Nova
by Matdeception
Summary: Logan just wanted a night to relax. No kids, no responsibilities, just him, beer, and some pool. A text message ended that before it began, and now Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters will never be the same.
1. Prologue

Nova

Author: Matdeception

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor would I ever pretend to own Ranma 1/2 or Evolution: X-men. This is a piece of fan fiction written to homage the original concepts and idea's of the authors of said series, and is in no way being used to make a profit from their fine works.

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Prologue: An old friend.

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It was a well deserved break, a week end of peace and quiet from the nosy, loud, hormonal brats that made up his... family? Logan snorted at that, grinning as he pulled on a pair of dark leather gloves and zipped up his jacket.

"Going some where, Logan?"

Logan sighed. 'Course, can't expect to sneak out for a night of bar hoppin with the Witch here.' He glanced back, spotting the white haired weather witch as she descended the stairs. She looked amused, or as amused as she could get with constantly having to keep her emotions in check. Ororo Munroe, one of the first to join Xavier's little group, was a woman of elegance and grace. So much so, though he'd never admit it even at gun point, he felt a bit weird just being around her. As if he had eaten something that didn't agree with him, a momentary... pain in his gut that would quickly vanish after his mutation got done with it. The pain was a little annoying, but hardly a concern.

"Bar." he gruffed, grabbing his keys. "You ain't gonna run and tell Charles, are ya?"

Ororo raised one delicate eyebrow curiously, "Cell phone?"

'Damn phones.' He grumbled mentally. He hated the little electronic gadgets. So easy to lose or misplace, and it always annoyed him that people could reach him anywhere when he had one. No privacy, no solitude, for a man like him that was hell. "Yeah." he patted his jacket pocket, "Ain't expectin anything, not with the kids at camp right?"

"Of course not." she smiled, bemused, "But you know what the Professor would say. 'Better to have one and not need it, then need one and not have it."

Logan frowned, "That's the condom principal."

"Hush you." The African woman snorted unlady like. "Have a good time." she waved casually, stepping into the living room.

'Meh' he shrugged. He opened the door to step out when a vibration in his jacket caught his attention. He sighed, fishing out that damn phone. 'Haven't even left the house and I'm already getting bugged. Hurray for technology... piece of shit.'

He flipped the phone open, stumbled a bit with the control before managing to open up his text messages. Logan blinked as he read the text.

"Well I'll be damned." Maybe cell phones weren't so bad after all...

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The light was dim, moody. Smoke from cigarettes clung to the ceiling, a mixture of menthol and cloves and regulars. Glasses chinked at random intervals as people raised their beer in a toast, joined by the crack of a que ball as it slammed into the solids and stripes. Music pumped across the bar, a mixture of rock, rap, and techno.

He didn't particularly care for the dive, much preferring the smaller businesses that didn't particularly play to the whims of youth. 'Speaking of youth...' Logan eyed the young man. Asian, with black hair tied loosely in a pony tail and blue gray eyes that pierced the dim haze of smoke that threatened to smother the place.. His skin was darker then most, but not by much, and while Logan didn't give a flying fuck about 'fashion' or any such communist shit, he had to admit that black leather pants and the slightly baggy body builder t-shirt gave the kid a dangerous look.

"Stop that." the kid snapped playfully, taking a long drag off his cigarette. He blew the smoke out slowly, grinning, "Or I might think you decided ta swing tha other way."

Logan snorted. "Fuck you, kid."

The kid chuckled, "So how ya been?"

"Can't complain." the feral man shrugged, chugging back on his beer. "Been baby sittin a bunch of spitfires lately. Bunch of annoying hormonal teenagers mainly, but they ain't all bad."

"Hah!" The Asian teenager slapped his knee, chuckling, "I knew it! Baldy finally convinced oua to do the whole teacher thing, didn't he?"

Logan grunted. "It ain't all bad."

"Sure it is." he kid rolled his eyes, "I remember what being a teenager was like. Constant fighting, super powered pissing contests, chicks throwing themselves at you from everywhere." he shook his head, "Fucking crazies stopping by wanting you to stop breathing."

"Meh." The feral man snorted, "You know it ain't like that here... or anywhere else on this fucking world."

Logan felt a little guilty the moment he said it. The light in the kid's eyes faded ever so slightly, that amused grin disappearing in an instant. "Eh... sorry Ranma."

"Ah don't be." Ranma sighed, picking up his own beer and chugging back some.

"You ever find out what happened?"

"Nah." the boy sighed, "Been all over, looking for somethin, anything to help me piece together what the hell happened and how I got here." He shrugged tiredly, looking anything but the teenager he appeared as. "I ain't giving up, no chance, but... I'm just tired man. Seventeen years of dead ends is just getting to me, y'know?"

Logan frowned curiously, "Is that why you're here? Pit stop before you hit the road again?"

Ranma chuckled, "Kinda. After that debacle in Peru..."

"Peru?" Logan interrupted smoothly, "What the hell happened in Peru?"

"Ah, not much." He shrugged, "Some revolutionists got it their hands on some of that Nova-tech I was tracking, thought they could use it to stage a coup. Long story short, there was a fight, couple of bombs went off, then the tech went thermal and left a large glass crater where an underground base use to be."

Wolverine grunted, "Heh. Only you can get into that kind of trouble..."

"Yeah, and that's why I'm here."

"Oh?" The older man frowned curiously.

"Yep." Ranma grunted, "Figured I'd take baldy up on his offer, crash at his place for a few months while I sniff out new leads." he grinned, "Maybe get a job, and watch some TV."

"You're planning on free loading." Logan deadpanned.

"Sure am." Ranma grinned, "You ever play Shogi?"

"Drop dead shit head." Logan snorted, finishing off his beer. "You hungry?"

"Heh." Ranma chuckled, "Always."

"Cool. Ororo's cooking dinner, she usually makes extra."

The gender-cursed boy blinked. "Ororo's there?"

Logan chuckled, "Oh yeah, she's there alright."

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea." he chuckled nervously, "Yeah, y'know, I think I'll just leave... the country."

"Ya big baby." Wolverine rolled his eyes, grabbing Ranma by his shirt collar and dragging him to his feet. "She's prolly already forgotten about Canada."

"This is Ororo." Ranma dead panned.

Logan frowned thoughtfully, nodding. "Yeah... you're screwed buddy."

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Ranma just stared. The large field that made up the school's front yard was huge, with grass, side walks, and even oak benches that just screamed wealth. The landscape was well cared for, which didn't surprise him. Ororo Munroe always did have a green thumb, especially when she needed an outlet to channel her more passionate emotions with out summoning a hurricane to lay devastation to everything and everyone.

'Jesus... how much fucking money does Baldy have?' The mansion itself was huge, complete with what he could only assume to be a fucking parking garage. It was made of brick with a tasteful red and white paint coating. He shook his head as he followed after Logan up the drive way.

"Some place." he breathed in awe.

Logan grunted as he slipped his key in and opened the door. The inside was pleasant, warm and personal. Sturdy wooden floors, just the right amount of lighting to illuminate with out irritating the eyes, and tasteful tapestries and paintings lining the walls.

Logan slammed the door shut rather loudly, grunting an 'I'm home.' as he tossed his keys into a bowl near the door.

"In the dining room Logan." Ororo's voice caught his ears. It was soft in tone, but otherwise neutral.

While he wasn't afraid, no never afraid not Ranma, he was seriously considering just rabbiting before the weather witch saw him.

Logan snorted, catching his nervous glances to the door. "Come on, you can't hide forever."

"I can certainly try!" Ranma snarled harshly.

"Who are you talking..." Ororo, beautiful exotic Ororo stepped into the room, her brown eyes staring at first curiously.

"Uh..." Ranma sweated, waving weakly from behind Logan "Hi."

"Ranma?" the Nubian woman breathed her voice going far to tense in his opinion.

Logan grunted, "Yeah, found him in a local dive. Figured it would be cool to give him a place to sleep for a few weeks."

Ororo growled, her brown eyes starting to cloud over.

Ranma sweated, "Yep, I'm screwed."

"Yes, you are." she snarled before lunging at the gender-cursed boy.

...

"What happened here?" Xavier stared at so much destruction in absolute awe. The Foyer was a mess; tiles had literally been ripped from the ground, walls scorched by what looked like fire of some kind. The stair case looked massively damaged, as if some one had crashed into the steps and been dragged up stairs with no regard to the damage being done.

"CCccccharles." Came the gruff voice.

Xavier looked up in surprise. There, on the roof, was Wolverine. The man had been encased in a chunk of ice that was frozen to the ceiling. He had a rather unhealthy blue complexion, and his teeth were chattering wildly. "Logan... what happened?"

"OooOororo..." the man grumbled miserably.

Professor X frowned. Ororo did this? She was the single most controlled woman he had ever met. Sadly that was out of necessity, for with out control her powers would rage unchecked, devastating everything around her in the process. What could have gotten into the normally cool woman to cause something like this?

"Bbbrought... Rrrranma..."

Xavier paled, "You fool!" he whispered in dread.

A loud boom from upstairs rocked the house down to its foundations, followed quickly by a low growl and heated cry. Xavier just covered his ears and wheeled himself down stairs. 'Thank goodness the kids aren't here; this would scar their little minds.'

For some reason, as he quickly descended into the lower levels, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. Something important... but what could it be?

"LLllitttle help?" The forgotten Wolverine moaned miserably.

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TBC:

AN: Something I wrote once, a long time ago that got nuked when my hard drive gave me the one finger salute. This isn't exactly as I originally wrote it, but hey, once lost nothing is ever the same again.

This fic is written entirely for fun. My fun, that is. You're welcome to leave comments and critiques, but I honestly don't care. You should consider this a work in progress, as I'm very likely to go back and alter entire scenes as I see fit. Anyway, enjoy.


	2. Chapter 1

Nova

Written By: Matdeception

Disclaimer: Do not own Ranma 1/2, or X-men: Evolutions. Do not seek to gain monetary compensation for these works, this is written for fun and amusement on my part.

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Chapter 1:

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The squeak of the air brakes bringing to bus to a stop jolted her from unconsciousness. Blearily she tried to remember why on earth she was on a bus going anywhere on a Sunday morning. Remembrance struck her quickly as she caught sight of the driver, a rather rough looking man in Army Fatigues complete with a stereotypical Drill instructor hat. Amusingly, at least to her, he was pouting like a kid who just got told 'No! No candy for you!'

Jean fought back a grin at that, remembering just why the bear of a man was pouting of all things. A weekend retreat had resulted in a small altercation with the Brotherhood, who either out of spite of simple boredom had been sent to the Camp with them, culminated in them working together to reach the top of a mountain so they could skip out of Sgt. Slaughters 'Camp of Hell' a day early. It hadn't been easy, not with Peitro 'Quicksilver' Maximoff's rivalry with Evan 'Spyke' Daniels. That they had managed to put aside their differences was something of a surprise, a very welcome one. Hopefully this was the first step the two needed to getting over their rivalry and become friends.

...

She wasn't going to hold her breath on that, but it was a nice thought.

"Like, thank goodness this is over." Kitty Pryde, the brown haired fair skinned California girl grinned with barely constrained enthusiasm.

"It's good to be home, no?" Kurt Wagner, also known as the Shadow Crawler, stretched out tiredly.

"Yah... jus wanna crawl inta bed and forget about tha whole thing." Rogue, the southern belle sighed tiredly. She played with the straps on her back pack some before standing up.

"Aw come on!" Evan grinned, "We just got out of the Camp of Hell, and you're going to go to sleep? NO! I say we go out and have some fun, before Xavier finds out we were cut loose a day early!"

Scott Summers, Cyclops, snorted at that. "And what? Prove to Xavier and the others we can't be trusted?"

"Scott's right." Jean ignored the aggravated glare from Evan, "It may not seem like much, but even little things like this help build trust."

Rogue looked at her, and Jean could swear for the barest of moments she looked grateful. But as quick as it came it was gone just as fast. Jean knew she and the southern belle weren't on the best of terms, their personalities were just so radically different, not to mention other... issues she did not want to think about.

"Alright Maggots, we're here. Now get out before I change my mind and haul your scrawny butts back to camp!" Sgt. Slaughter scowled from the driver seat.

Jean just rolled her eyes, following after the others. She was glad to be away from the angry Drill Instructor, and happy to be home. All was right in the world...

As they opened the door Jean froze.

"Whoa! When did World War Three hit?"

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"Why the heck do I have to fix this?" Those words did not, strangely enough, come from Ranma. The gender-cursed boy happily ignored the out burst, setting down planks to serve as temporary stairs and nailing them into place. He worked in just a pair of pants, his white muscle shirt from the night prior missing... and no one there doubted for a second it wasn't beyond repair.

Nor did it come from Ororo, who was busy painting over the scorch marks on the wall with a surreal little grin plastered on her face. Her hair was slightly out of place, and anyone who knew her knew that she took great pride in her starch white hair. That she could let it fall out of place spoke volumes that something wasn't right with the Weather Witch, but no one was foolish enough to call her on it. She worked in a white tank top and beige shorts that did little to hide the curve of her figure.

It came, unsurprisingly, from Logan who was placing new tile to replace the old ones that had been ripped free when Storm turned... violent the night prior. The feral like man glared at the previous two with his not so inconsiderable rage.

His answer didn't come from Ranma or Storm, both of whom seemed content with their punishment, but from Xavier who just stared at him like he was dealing with a petulant child. "Remind me, Logan, who was it that brought Ranma here knowing full well what Ororo's reaction to his presence would be?"

"What?" Logan snarled, "How was I suppose to know she'd jump him like that!"

"Canada." Ranma, Storm, and Xavier sounded off at once.

"I thought she got over that!" Logan protested with a grump, setting another tile into place. "It's been what, five years?"

Ranma chuckled, ignoring or ignorant of the scathing glare shot his way. "And they say I don't understand women."

"Hush you." Storm chirruped happily, "You aren't off the hook yet."

"... Joy." the gender-cursed boy grumbled tiredly.

Logan just glared, "I hate you. All of you."

Xavier just shook his head. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't amused by the three's antics, because he was. Ranma, the man trapped in a perpetually youthful body had been a source of much controversy and intrigue since he had met him ten years ago in Canada. The boy had been searching for something, a piece of the puzzle that would get him home when he had literally crashed into him and Storm. It had been rather amusing for him, a secret pleasure he'd never tell anyone else about, to hear the boy called the normally stoic Ororo an uncute tomboy when she had momentarily lost her cool over some perceived slight and tried to give him a little shock.

The door opening shook him from his memories. He spied the children staring in awe at the destruction.

Scott blinked, "Uh, Professor... what happened here?"

"Yeah, like seriously." Evan shook his head dazedly, "Who attacked?"

Logan froze as a rather sinister idea came to mind. Now, he wasn't normally some one who got off making peoples lives hell... okay so maybe he was, but that didn't matter. Right now he felt slighted and God damn if he wasn't going to share some of the misery.

"Your Aunty had a wild time last night." Logan suggested in such a way that no one could deny the implications.

"What?" came the squeak from Evan, who looked closer and closer to having a coronary. Especially when Storm just smiled in a vaguely disturbing fashion rather then condemn such an accusation.

"That was rather crass, Logan." Xavier admonished. He rubbed his forehead tiredly, trying to think about the situation and how he should handle it as far as the kids were concerned. He quickly thought about just telling a few white lies, but buried that thought almost as quickly as it came. He had promised he would be truthful with the children ever since the Mystique incident as their school principal. That event had hurt his relationship with the children who were, rightfully, upset that he had been keeping that fact hidden from them for so long. It had taken much effort on his part to help mend the wounds the team had sustained; he'd rather not risk hurting them like that again.

"Children." he smiled, "Would you go into the dining room? I'll explain everything."

The children nodded, dumbly dropping off their bags by the door as they went.

"Ranma, Ororo..." Xavier began, "Would you join me with the children?"

Ranma nodded, leaping into an overhead flip as he cleared the damaged stair way. "Sure thing."

Ororo grinned, dropping her brush into the pain bucket. She practically shishayed her way to the dining room, radiating raw sensuality as she did so. Xavier rubbed his forehead tiredly at that. 'Better get use to it, old man. So long as Ranma's here she'll never be the same.'

Logan grunted, dropping the tiles. Xavier grinned, "And Logan?"

"Yeah Chuck?"

"Keep up the good work." he wheeled around, leaving the feral man to glare at his retreating back.

Ranma watched him go, giving the angry looking feral man a look. "Now that you had coming. Seriously, what were you trying to do, warp their little minds?"

"I hate you so much." Wolverine snarled as he picked up the tiles and went back to work.

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The Dining room was a ball of mix emotions, so much so Jean was feeling a little giddy picking up on them. Normally she wouldn't dare use her powers even this much; she respected the privacy of her fellow students and of the faculty who taught them enough not to pry. She was, however, a teenage girl, and like all teenage girls she had caught the scent of something that she knew would be a juicy topic among them for weeks to come.

Never mind the vibes she was getting off of Storm as she practically strutted like a mischievous cat into the room, swinging her hips enticingly before disappearing into the kitchen. The Ororo she knew would never, ever, not in a million years do something like that. Her connection with the weather patterns of earth required her to maintain a strict calm, lest she become agitated and accidentally summon a tornado during less then stressful times. That she practically oozed a sort of hyper excitement and more... sensual feelings left her a bit off kilter.

And curious, so very curious.

"Oh god, this is wrong, so damn wrong." Evan moaned miserably, with a sense of despair and a mounting tide of concern for the older Nubian woman. "What's wrong with her?"

"Like, she seems so laid back." Kitty spoke up.

"Which is dangerous, no?" Kurt returned hesitantly, idly rubbing his hands together. Jean would have to be blind deaf and dumb not to pick up on the curious excitement the boy was feeling right then. Kurt enjoyed the unknown, enjoyed chaos for the amusement factor if nothing else. Storm acting the way she was just so happened to have 'Impending Chaos' written all over it.

"Calm down." Scott stepped in, the voice of reason. "The Professor didn't seem concerned, there's nothing to worry about."

"... Who was the new kid?" Rogue spoke suspiciously. Jean could feel the guarded mistrust already building up in the girl, a standard reaction for the southern belle, one the red head couldn't help but wince at. Poor girl mistrusted everyone she met, or was about to meet, though she supposed that was a standard defense mechanism for the girl. Her Mutation made getting close to anyone impossible; it was only logically, if sad, that she would prepare herself psychically to remain separate from them.

"Like no idea." Kitty whispered, her tone becoming conspiratorial, "But you saw Logan staring at him, I bet whatever happened to Storm is because of him."

Jean felt a sharp spike of Anger from Evan, "Let's not jump to conclusions." she quickly put in, hoping to dissuade the skater from going thermal before they learned the truth, "He might not have anything to do with what happened."

"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting." Xavier rolled in, followed by the new student, the boy just shaking his head in clear amusement. He motioned for the Asian boy to take a seat, he did so by Rogue, ignorant or ignoring the southern belle when she scooted away from him slightly.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room; interrupted every now and then by Logan's angry cursing of punks and repressed women, or by the girly giggling coming from the kitchen every so often. Strangely enough, it was the giggling from the kitchen that was causing tensions to rise amongst the group of them.

"Well..." Xavier began after a moment, "How was camp?"

And just like that the tension eased a bit, the man earning incredulous stares from all of them, except the Asian boy who just shook his head.

"Fine. We were cut loose a day early for our team work." Scott worked out hastily. Jean had to stop herself from laughing at the sudden desperate curiosity to grip Scott's mind at that. 'And he had been controlling himself so well...'

"How to explain this..." Xavier paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Just tell them the truth?" The Asian boy shrugged, "Find that usually works." he ignored the quick nods coming from everyone at that.

"No fun in that." Xavier frowned; ignoring the unbelieving stares shot his way. "Let's see if I can't make an abject lesson out of this."

"You and teaching." the boy snorted, standing up, "I'm going to go make sure Ororo's not doing something stupid, call me if you need me."

"Hey! Don't talk about my Aunt that way!" Evan growled.

The boy chuckled, waving the skater off. "Yeah yeah." he disappeared into the kitchen with out another word.

"Okay, who is that creep?" Rogue shot the first question.

"Well get to him soon." Xavier evaded, smiling disarmingly at the southern belle who looked ready to explode. "First I want to ask each of you a question."

"What kind of question, Professor?" Jean threw out, helping dissuade the others from telling him where he could stuff his question. Honestly, she thought, her fellow students could get so worked up at the drop of a hat it wasn't even funny.

"A self discovery question." Xavier looked at all of them one by one, "Now, I want you to think about this carefully. It's very important, both to what I'm about to tell you, and to your growth as an adult. Understand?"

A round of nods, he continued, "Very well. The question is, 'What makes you strong?'

Kurt blinked, "What makes us strong?"

Evan snorted, "Easy question. Our powers make us strong!"

"Like, yeah. Our powers." Kitty agreed impulsively.

Jean frowned, but said nothing. While she didn't have a snow balls chances in hell of fishing exactly what Xavier was looking for out of his head, she had known him long enough to know he didn't ask questions like that with out trying to make a point, and that the answers were never so simple. She glanced to Scott, relieved he seemed to be thinking the same thing, staying quiet and merely observing.

"Do you all agree with that?" Xavier looked at them one by one. Kurt, Evan, and Kitty nodded quickly enough. Jean was surprised when he stopped on Rogue, the girl frowning before shaking her head in the negative.

"I see three of you didn't answer." he smiled, "Scott, Jean, Rogue? Do you have an answer?"

Rogue hesitated, grumbling "Ah... it ain't tha powers that make a person strong; it's how they use em y'know?"

"She's right." Jean smiled at the thankful look Rogue shot her, "As strong as we are, it's not our mutations that make it so, but who we are here." she tapped her forehead, "And here." she tapped her chest next.

Xavier nodded seriously, looking to Scott. "What do you think Scott?"

Scott frowned thoughtfully, "Well... our mutations are a facet of who we are, but they are not the whole of who we are."

"Oh?" Xavier pressed.

"Well, saying our mutations are our power wouldn't be right." Cyclopes clarified, "While they are a part of us, they aren't who we are completely. We have a mind, we have a body, and a soul... that makes us who we are more then any mutation can."

Xavier nodded, smiling after a time. "I'm proud of you."

Scott smiled sheepishly; Rogue blushed and looked away, while Kurt, Evan, and Kitty chuckled nervously. Jean could feel their minds as they quickly realized the truth of it; she couldn't stop from smiling at it either.

"Now for a second question." Professor X crossed his fingers, "If you didn't have your mutations, would you still be as strong today?"

This time they all stayed silent, contemplating that. Jean frowned at the question, but it was Scott who answered for all of them.

"Well, no." Scott grudgingly admitted, "It may not be the sum of who we are, but our mutations have been a focal point of our lives. With out them I don't think we would have the maturity we have today."

"I see. Do you all agree?" Xavier turned to the other kids curiously.

"Nah, Scott's right." Evan grumped, "I'm not saying I'm mature at all, but if I didn't have my powers I think I'd be worse off."

"Would you?" Xavier smiled, "Do you believe that non-mutants are inherently immature Evan? Perhaps weaker then you simple because they were born with out a mutation?"

"That's not what he meant." Rogue broke in, "He's jus sayin he wouldn't have any reason ta be as mature, not that our mutations make us better then anyone."

"But don't they?" Xavier questioned. Jean really didn't like this line of thought, but if she was to be honest...

"It does, I guess." She spoke up, blushing slightly at the incredulous stares from everyone else. "I hate to sound shallow, or anything like the Brotherhood, but... I feel safer knowing I'm a mutant. Knowing I have the power to do what I want when I want."

"I see." Xavier frowned, disappointment dripping off his words.

"But..." Jean continued, "That's what makes us different from the Brotherhood. Knowing we can do anything we wanted, and actually doing it are two different things. I think all of us here realize that we can't go on a rampage, not if we want to keep any chance of being accepted for who we are, regardless of our mutant abilities."

"Do you all agree with Ms. Grey?" Professor X gave each child a long, calculating look. They nodded hesitantly at his stares, relief flooding through them when he smiled happily.

"I'm glad to hear you say that." he rolled his chair near the intercom, hitting the button. "If you two would mind stopping, I could use Ranma in here now." his tone dripping with amusement.

There was a slight scuffle over the intercom, followed by a grunt of acknowledgment.

Soon enough, Ranma came strolling back in with a beer in his hand. He popped the cap and chugged on the bottle, ignoring the indignant look of the others. "Thanks Baldy, Ororo was... well..."

"Spare us the details." Xavier chuckled, "Take your seat, and put the beer down, you aren't setting a proper example for the children."

Ranma rolled his eyes, taking his seat next to Rogue, ignoring the disgusted look she shot him in the process "Yeah yeah."

"Now children..." he turned back to the group, "I'd like to introduce to you a very special acquaintance of mine, Ranma Saotome."

"Yo." the boy waved flippantly, leaning back in his chair.

Jean frowned at the emotions she was picking up from the boy. He wasn't annoyed, but it felt like he was dismissing them out right, as if they weren't important enough to rate on his mind as anything more then a nuisance. It annoyed her like nothing else had ever annoyed her in her short miserable life.

"Now, before you start bombarding him with questions, you should all know that Ranma has absolutely no mutation." Xavier started with a smile. Jean could practically feel the tension drain out of the others at that revelation, she wouldn't admit it herself but having an unknown in their home was a little scary, but with out a mutant power to back him up should he some how prove hostile she felt she could handle him easily enough.

Xavier grinned in a way that set alarms off in Jean's head, "Ranma, if you'd give them a demonstration?"

Ranma grunted, raising his hand up, palm open with fingers pointed to the sky as if he was holding something. Curiosity began to get the better of her; honestly what was he about to do, when she saw it. Motes of... light? Something started appearing in the air, drifting slowly towards his palm for a fraction of a second before shooting towards it like a comet. Quickly a ball of blazing energy filled his palm, he ignored the startled gasp she couldn't help but let out as he pushed his hand upwards slightly.

The ball of energy floated there as he lowered his hand. He reached out for his beer, pouring some into a cup before sitting it down. Cupping his palm near the glass, the others gasped as the liquid shimmered, strands of water erupting from the glass and pooling into a ball in his hand. He tossed the orb of water into the air, where it circled the glowing blue ball. Fishing a lighter out of his pants, he sparked the flame. Withering angrily as fires are wont to do, he placed his hand over the flame before pulling his hand and the lighter apart. Flames shot from the light, compressing into a fire ball that crackled and threaten to break loose of... whatever it was he was doing to contain the fire. He tossed it in the air as well, pocketing the lighter.

"There ya go." the boy grunted, taking a chug of his beer, ignoring the everyone's freaked out stares.

"How... what? What is that?" Kitty spoke in awe, "You said he wasn't a mutant!"

"I'm not." Ranma rolled his eyes, "Just because I can do things most people can't doesn't mean I have the X-gene. Hell, anyone can do this type of stuff if they train hard enough for it."

"Bull shit!" Rogue snapped, though her eyes never left the ball of flame, water, and light hovering in the air.

"Regardless." Xavier broke in, "The example has been made. Ranma if you would?"

"Yeah." Ranma waved his hand, the compressed balls of elements immediately swirling together rapidly. There was a hissing, cackling sound as they collided into each other. An eruption of light exploded from the central mass as they Water consumed fire, fire consumed water, and the glowing ball consumed them both. Motes of the energy spread out across the room violently, falling slowly to the earth and vanishing.

Jean shuddered as her skin absorbed a mote of energy. Strangely she felt warmth encompass her, confidence she never truly felt explode in her chest, and a sense of life and vitality that made anything she ever felt before tame in comparison. She looked around to make sure she wasn't the only one being affected like this, and from the pink blush on Rogue's cheeks, the cocky smirk on Kurt and Evan, and the way Scott was staring at her fiercely she knew for a fact she wasn't the only one feeling that way.

Xavier sighed, "I meant for you to dispel the projections, not that."

"Bah!" Ranma snorted, "They needed a jolt if you ask me."

"Okay..." Scott breathed, tearing his gaze away from Jean. "What just happened?"

"A brief, temporary infusion of Ranma's spirit." Xavier explained, "No, don't ask me for specifics. I couldn't even begin to fathom how it's possible."

"So what does this mean?" Jean shook off the affects of... whatever that was quickly. She really didn't want to contemplate that feeling of superiority, or the way Scott stared at her... no, best to ignore that for now.

"It means, Jean, that for all our power and ability, Humanity can become just as strong with out the help of an X-gene." Xavier intoned seriously, "Ranma is living proof of this."

Ranma chuckled, earning everyone's attention, "Yeah, real kick in the pants to that whole 'I'm a mutant, so I'm better then you' shtick, huh?"

"RANMA! GET YOU'RE CUTE LITTLE ASS IN HERE!"

"Aunty?" Evan shuddered.

Ranma winced, "Oh geesh..."

"Go." Xavier ordered, ignoring the desperate pleading look from the boy. "You dug your grave, now you get to lay in it."

"Gee, thanks Baldy. How about we just cut this middle man stuff out and I pull the trigger now?" Ranma groaned, walking the walk of the damned to the kitchen.

"Not enough suffering! Now shoo!" Xavier chuckled. Once gone, he turned back to the kids. 'I don't need to be a mind reader to know what's coming next.'

Evan growled, "What did he do to my Aunt?"

"It's like she's loose!" Rogue mumbled in shock. At Evan's dangerous glare, she winced, "Uh.. I mean emotionally?"

"She didn't mean what I think she meant, did she Kitty?" Kurt whispered not so quietly, earning him a glare from the pissed off skater. Kitty wisely remained silent.

"Be calm Evan, I'm sure the Professor was about to explain exactly what was going on, right... where do you think you're going?" Jean snarled.

Xavier froze. He had almost made it out of the room with out any of them noticing. Damn it! He turned back around with a smile, "Ah, never mind that." he chuckled nervously at the six glares he received from the children. "What was the question?"

"What did that freak do to my Aunt!" Evan snarled.

"Ah yes." Xavier chuckled weakly, "Well... how to explain this..."

"Don't be such a wuss Chuck." Logan walked in with a growl, "Tiles are done."

"Ah, Logan! Good of you to come." Xavier grinned. 'Helllllo patsy!' "Cerebro just sent up a distress, something for me to see, very important, ect. ect. Give the children an explanation on the whole Ranma Storm situation, would you? Toodles!" he spoke lightning fast, wheeling out of the room faster then any of the children had ever seen the old coot move.

Six pairs of eyes turned to stare at the feral man. 'Oh this is some bull shit.' He debated a moment about just walking away, but the determined look in their eyes made him realize that was a bad idea. Knowing his luck, they'd probably follow him until they could corner him. 'Bah, I hate you so damn much, Ranma.'

"Well kids." Logan grunted, "You all know how Storm has to keep cool right?"

They nodded.

"Well, bout seven years ago Chuck and Storm were in Canada, training her to be cool and collected. It was going good I hear, but then they stumbled upon that twerp. Some words were exchanged, and in the span of a few minutes Storm went from Calm to murderous." he chuckled, "Ah man, I haven't ever heard some one call Storm an uncute tomboy before, but man did he push her buttons."

"So he's good at upsetting people." Jean spoke reverently. Anyone who could piss Storm off so fast had to be one of the most infuriating people to grace the planet.

"Oh sure." Logan grunted, "But it was more of an explosion of repressed desires on Storm's part."

Evan didn't like where this was going. "That still doesn't explain why Storm is acting so weird... and why there aren't any tornado's tearing up the house."

Logan grunted, "That's where that whole KI mumbo jumbo comes into play."

"Ki?" Rogue blinked, "Heck is that?"

"Wait..." The feral man snarled, "They showed you the whole 'balls of energy' thing right?"

"Well, yeah, but like they didn't explain it." Kitty threw in.

"Oh for the love of." Logan sighed, "Look. Think if it as a field of energy that surrounds every living thing. I can't really explain it better then that."

"Okay..." Jean groused, "So this KI energy has something to do with why Ororo is acting so... not herself?"

"Sorta." Logan growled. Oh was he going to get Chuck back for this. "See, the way Ranma explained it was that everyone has an 'aura', or energy field surrounding them. When Storm was trying to electrocute him in Canada, he said he could feel her aura pulsing at... well, a frequency I guess."

"And?" Evan snarled. The kid looked ready to pop. Logan sighed. If he knew Evan, once he learned the whole truth things were going to go south, and fast. Ah well, it had to come out sooner or later.

"Anyway, from how I understand it, Ranma picked up on it and matched his own 'KI' field to hers." Logan scratched his beard thoughtfully, "Weirdly enough, this completely shut down Storm's mutation."

"... Shut down?" Rogue breathed incredulously.

"Yeah. He shut down her power." Logan grunted, "So for the first time in all her memory she wasn't connected to the weather. Now she was just a sexually repressed young woman, and, well... you all know the birds and the bees, so I ain't gonna go into details."

Evan twitched.

Jean cupped her cheeks, hiding her blush.

Kitty laughed nervously.

Kurt was glad he had fur.

Scott thanked the lord for his shades; else they see how wide his eyes really were.

Rogue snarled, "How does him shutting down her power work? How long does it last? And what the hell is Storm, a cradle robber? The guy's our age for God's sake!"

Logan frowned. The fact Rogue was curious shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. Damn old man, you should have thought about that. "Don't know the specifics, lasts as long as Ranma wants it too, or until he's too far to sustain the 'KI' overlay, and calm down kid, he's actually older then Storm."

Jean stepped in before Rogue could say something, the poor girl looked ready to pop, "What do you mean he's older then Storm, he's a teenager."

"That punk is near forty years old, even if he doesn't look it." Logan shrugged, "He says it's a perk of all his training, or part of his curse, he doesn't know."

"Curse?" Rogue snapped out, practically sulking in her chair.

"Ah... ain't something I'm comfortable telling ya." Logan shrugged, heading to the kitchen. "Now get out of here."

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TBC

AN: Huh, well it wrote itself. I found myself rather amused at parts. C&C welcome. This is written for fun, my fun.


	3. Chapter 2

Nova Written

By: Matdeception

Disclaimer: Don't own Ranma 1/2 or X-men Evolution

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Chapter 2: True Lies.

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The night was old, nearing the inevitable sunrise that would banish it's darkness to the far reaches of the horizon. She could feel the warmth of her lover pressed up against her back, feel his hot breath tickle her neck and smell the sweat that covered them both. Her body ached terribly, but it was a good ache, one she wouldn't give up for anything in the world.

"You spoil me." she spoke softly, tone melodious.

He chuckled, a short piercing sound that almost sounded amused, but she knew better to think that. "Anything worth doing is worth doing right."

She giggled softly, short and sweet. Twisting, the feel of their flesh rubbing together heavenly to her senses, until she faced him. Deep brown eyes looked into playful gray blue, locked in place for a moment's eternity. "I have to get up." she spoke reluctantly, kissing his nose before untangling herself from him.

She could feel his eyes on her as she threw one leg over the edge, felt them rake down the dark expanse of her back as she stood up from the bed, glue themselves to her shapely hips as she sauntered across the room and entered the bathroom. She quirked a smile at his soft whine when she shut the door.

She flicked on the lights, the flash of illumination blinding her temporarily. Rubbing the sudden blindness away, she came face to face with her reflection. The mirror showed just how dirty she had become after two blissful nights glued to her lovers hot, sweaty, hard body. Her hair was matted with sweat and other... unmentionable fluids, her neck littered with small bruises courtesy of his lips, and her breasts still shown teeth marks over her nipples were he had nibbled her flesh, and her crotch sticky and wet from her fluids mixed with his.

Ororo didn't think she had ever been so beautiful in her life. She shot herself a little grin, turning on the water and running her hand through the clear stream until it turned hot. She mewed in contentment as she stepped into the shower, the hot water cascading down her nubile form, leaving searing pin pricks of wonderful agony across her skin as the sweat and grime of days past began to wash away. This feeling of contentment was, until two days ago, the only true joy she could allow herself if she wanted to retain her ironclad control of her emotions. Now, under Ranma's suppression technique, she didn't need to worry about it, and that freedom made this moment all the more wonderful to her senses.

As good as he made her feel, and he made her feel really good, she could not deny the drifting, troubled thoughts of yesterday to come foreword in her mind. She may have been free of her emotional restraints for the time being, but that did not make her any less intelligent. Especially in regards to certain, troubling factors that cropped up in light of Ranma's presence and the unavoidable explanation of his abilities, and how they related to her.

Or more to the fact, how it related to Rogue. While the girl was far, far, far too young to do the things she had done with Ranma, she could only imagine the hope that threatened to erupt in the girl at the prospect of having her mutation suppressed, even if only for a little while. To have that hope dangled in front of her, only to be crushed within the same instance when she realized the boy in question, or man if you thought about it, was already some one else's lover could not have been an easy truth to take.

Ororo sighed at that. She would need to talk to her, but not now. Not while she was still suppressed and able to enjoy these oh so tantalizing emotions she had to repress normally.

Rogue was a concern, but hardly the only one. Evan, her darling nephew, had been rather furious. That he stormed into the kitchen and caught his Aunt spread out over the table had not been the best of things to see so soon after explanations had been given. Though his reaction had been amusing, the poor dear fainted on top of Logan, who had walked in a minute before her nephew and saw them in the act.

She giggled, covering her mouth to try and mute out the sound. The look on those two faces had been priceless...

She felt him before she realized she wasn't alone, stiffing slightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed up against her back. His fingers traced the contour of her abs tenderly even as he kissed and nibbled the flesh along her neck in such a way that made her curl her toes at the stinging warm sensation that shot down her spine. Ororo groaned, her legs becoming like cooked spaghetti at his touch, but he did not let her fall, simply held her.

"Spoil me rotten." The Weather Witch hummed sensually, lifting her arms and wrapping them around his head. She felt the length of his 'Little Ranma' pressing against her firm buttocks, and grinned, "Rotten indeed."

She would deal with Rogue and Evan later, but for now, for at least one more hour she would enjoy the finer things in life.

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Evan slapped himself across the face, hard. The painful sting helped ease some of the embarrassment he felt, but it just wasn't enough. Bad enough that he knew his Aunt was having sex; it was a whole other thing to actually catch her in the act! Never in a million years had he honestly, truthfully, given any kind of thought to the possibility. He guessed he should have, but with her powers and the way she had to remain calm, he figured anything even remotely like that was a dead issue before it began.

"Ugh... I hate my life." he groaned to no one in particular, stepping into the kitchen. He froze then as he saw her, Ororo sat at the kitchen table in blowing on a cup of warm java. He quickly catalogued her appearance, noticed her stark white hair set in pristine condition, the simple purple dress pressed neatly with nary a wrinkle. Yet the most welcoming sight was her face, no smile, and calm passive cheeks with near emotionless eyes at the surface.

"Aunty?" He breathed, hoping against hope his Aunt was... well, back to normal!

"Good morning, Evan." Her voice was calm, even, and unremarkable. She looked at him and smiled, one of those rare content smiles she only showed him. "Did you sleep well?"

Evan snorted, "After catching you and that ass..." he winced at the rather pointed stare she shot him. Mentally back pedaling after his near disastrous Foot In Mouth moment, he waved his hands disarmingly, "Eer... sorry!"

Storm just looked at him, and for a brief, tense moment he thought for sure she was going to toss a lightning bolt where the sun doesn't shine. But she sighed knowingly, patting a chair. "We need to talk, dear."

'Oh joy.' The Skater grimaced, but quickly took his seat. Truth be told he was dying to know what the hell was really going on with his Aunt, and why she would allow that freak to so much as lay a hand on her. "Shoot."

"What do you think about him?" She watched him, sipping calmly from her cup.

"He's a freak!" Evan growled, barely restraining the urge to yell bloody vengeance for him daring to touch his sweet, loving aunt

"Really?" She feigned surprised, eying him curiously, "Why do you think that, dear?"

Evan just looked at her. He lifted his hand and began counting down, "One, he's not a mutant but can make fire balls and shoot lightning from his ass..."

Storm blinked, "What?"

"Eh..." Evan shrugged, "Too much Braveheart. Anyway, he can suppress mutant abilities. Two, Logan says he's forty, but he doesn't look a day over nineteen at the oldest. Three, he's irritating, and Four he just came out of freaking no where and is suddenly all buddy buddy with you and the rest of the adults!" He refrained from listing the fifth reason he hated the guy, but he doubted she would at all care if he said he hated him because he was screwing his aunt!

She smiled, a simple calm thing that did little to ease his irritation. "Well, he can be irritating, and is rather old."

"Finally talking some sense!" Evan crowed!

"But do you honestly consider him a freak simply because he has abilities beyond what we would consider normal?" She asked pointedly, one eyebrow rose curiously.

"Hell yes." The Skater grumped, "No human can do all that, it's just all wrong!"

Storm hmmed, sipping her coffee, though her eyes never left him. She spoke slowly after a time, "So do you consider the rest of us freaks as well?"

Evan blinked, "Huh? NO! Why would you say something like that Aunty?"

She smiled, raising her hand and counting down, "One: We have abilities that far outstrip anything a 'Human' can do, Two: I can shoot lightning bolts, Three: You can grow an exo-skeleton of bone and other weapons, Four: Logan can regenerate any wound he's inflicted with, no matter how grievous, in the blink of an eye, and Five: Xavier can manipulate the minds of anyone he chooses with only the slightest bit of concentration." she lowered her hand over his own, fingers gently rubbing the top of his hand soothingly, "But does all that make us any less then what we truly are; Human?"

Evan winced. Thinking about it now, he felt like a total heel for even bringing the topic up. So what if he didn't have an X-gene and could do all that, he was still human right? Just as human as they were... still didn't mean he wasn't an ass. "I'm sorry." he lowered his head, embarrassed.

"So long as you understand that none of us, not you or I or anyone are anything other then human, then there's nothing to forgive." she gripped his hand tightly, still smiling that comforting calm smile she always did.

"Thanks." he sighed.

"Now nephew..." she paused, idly pushing back a stray strand of her starch white hair, "... let me answer your unspoken question."

Evan winced. He didn't need to be a genius to know where this conversation was headed. It took everything he had not to slap himself again.

"But first..." she breathed slowly, running her fingers along the edge of her cup, "What do you think of Rogue when you look at her?" she pressed one finger to his lips before he could speak, "Think carefully dear, it's important."

Evan grunted, bringing up images of the Goth girl and trying to figure out how he felt about her. At first he couldn't really think of anything, she was just Rogue right? But as his thoughts wandered to her power and her attitude he began to think, to realize something. He looked up at Storm, sighing, "She's annoying to be around."

Storm just kept smiling that eerie calm smile, "And why is she annoying, dear?"

"I dunno." the skater grumped, crossing his arms, "She just is, y'know? Always snapping at you, or telling you to back off, and damn it if she isn't depressing to be around." he snorted, "I mean, I know her power sucks and all, but damn if I just can't get comfortable with her around. It's like I... I dunno, get all anxious just being around her, like she's going to suck me dry if I do something wrong."

Ororo nodded sadly, an emotion she rarely showed, "Would you understand if I said Rogue and I are different sides of the same coin?"

Evan blinked, "Eh? What'cha talking about Aunty?" He didn't get it, how on earth was Storm anything like Rogue?

"How to put this..." The Weather Witch sighed, closing her eyes in thought. "Rogue is trapped by her power; you know this, even if you can't understand it. She can not reach out to some one physically, can not touch them and feel the warmth and acceptance such a simple action can bring. You know this as well, but can you truly appreciate how hard it is to go with out physical contact of any kind for the rest of your life? To be forever trapped by your body."

Evan shuddered. He knew it was bad with Rogue, not that he really put much thought into it, but now that it was being spelled out for him he honestly wondered how Rogue could deal with it. "Okay, I get Rogue, but what does this have to do with you Aunty? You can touch people, Rogue can't."

Eyes fluttering open, Storm looked at him calmly, but her eyes spoke of a sadness he could honestly admit never seeing in the older woman. "In a way Rogue is lucky. She knows she can't touch people, knows she will never feel the warmth of another she cares for, so she doesn't try. She pushes them all away to avoid getting hurt. I... I am not so lucky." she touched his hand, finders idly caressing his skin, "I can feel you, the texture of your skin, the warmth beneath it..."

Evan grunted, "Okay, and what does that have to do with anything?"

"Dear, because I can touch you I can taste what she can't. Yet at the same time, I can't."

"Eh... what the hell does that mean?" Evan was stumped.

"As Rogue is trapped by her body..." Storm sighed, "... I am trapped by my emotions. I can get close to people, but only so close. If something happens, if I lose control of my emotions even for the briefest of moments, best case scenario I hurt them, worst case I could actually kill them."

Evan felt his mouth go dry at that. He knew his Aunt had to be careful around people, but he never really thought about what would happen if she lost control. Oh he had entertained thoughts of a little shock if things got out of hand, but the possibility of killing some one? That knowledge brought everything into focus, and with that clarity came an oppressive guilt in his gut for even bitching about Ranma in the first place.

Storm smiled, watching him as he literally put the pieces together. "So you see, Ranma gives me what no one else can, the ability to be myself, to let my emotions run free. He's more then my lover, Evan..." she ignored his blush, "... he's my friend, my sole confidant, some one I can show the real me beneath my control with no fear of hurting him."

"..." Evan coughed, trying to hide his blush. Really, he got the picture, but all this touchy feely stuff was embarrassing him like nothing else. "I... I understand Aunty." he looked up at her then, met her eyes and smiled his cocky little smile, "I'm happy for you, really."

She returned his smile with a kiss on his forehead, "I'm glad you understand Evan."

"I'd be jealous, but that's just too cute." And just like that, the tender moment was ruined. Ranma stood by the door smiling one of his little smirks, dressed in a embroider red silk shirt and loose silk pants complete with silk slippers and match armbands with the Horse Kanji etched into it's surface. He looked at the two relatives, amusement plain as day.

Evan wanted to punch him so badly. "Ass."

"Evan." Storm looked at him pointedly, eyebrow raised in that no-nonsense pose.

'Oh how I hate eating crow.' The skater grimaced, "Sorry."

Ranma shrugged, strolling up to the table, "Don't worry about it. I think Ororo's just lucky to have a nephew who cares enough about her to question her choices." he rubbed his head, much to the Skater's ire, "She has a better family in you then I've ever had my entire life."

"Yeah... whatever." Evan grumped, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Gonna watch some tube before school, see ya Aunty... Ranma."

Storm watched him grow before leveling a half lidded glare at her lover, "Must you always choose the worst times to interrupt a conversation?"

Ranma chuckled, not the least bit repentant, "Hey, its part of the Saotome charm." He flashed a grin when she rolled her eyes, "Hey, don't knock it. You never seem to have any complaints."

Storm elbowed him in the gut, "You're such a pervert."

"Guilty as charged." he stalked up to the over, only now catching the aroma of cinnamon and freshly baked bread, "What's this?"

Ororo practically giggled at the sight of him salivating over the stove, but held herself back. She had to remind herself that right now she wasn't being suppressed, right now she had to keep control. "Breakfast for the kids, they have school today."

The boy grunted, "Don't suppose there's some extra in there for little ole me?"

"Well I did say breakfast for the children, I assumed that included you as well." Her smile was just a little less calm then normal, but she couldn't help herself with the way he glared at her indignantly.

"Oh hardy, har har!"

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Jean sighed, pulling her red hair back into a simple pony tail as she walked down the quiet halls. She tried to think of anything she was forgetting as she walked down the stairs to. A nagging suspicion that she had a test today wouldn't leave her alone, but she shelved that concern for later. It was too late now to worry about it, she'd just have to go with the flow and hope she managed to score at the very least and A-.

Kitty came running down the stairs beside her, zipping into the dining room like a lightning bolt. She didn't need to be psychic to feel the raw hunger radiating off her in waves. She was a little annoyed, and jealous, that the girl could eat so much and not put on an ounce of weight from it.

She sighed, letting that little bit of irritation fade from her. It really wasn't anything she could change, so why bother? Idly she wondered if Storm had a granola bar stashed away some where for those sad few who like her who dieted.

"... LEAPT OUT THE PLANE WITH OUT HIS CHUTE!" Logan roared, his deep laugh reverberating through out the house.

Jean smiled. Well at least he was in a better mood, after yesterday she didn't think the feral like man would ever smile again. She stepped into the dining room, the sweet smell of freshly baked sweet rolls assaulted her and made her really consider if she shouldn't just break her diet and be done with it.

"Don't laugh!" Ranma scowled, "You would have jumped too if Ororo had started charging up a lightning bolt just because I called her a tomboy!"

The Weather Witch just smiled her calm little smile, but Jean could swear the older woman was struggling valiantly to keep from falling out of her chair in laughter.

"Not when we're five thousand feet in the air!" The Feral like man snapped back.

"Hey... I survived, didn't I?" Ranma, the Asian boy... or was it Man, pouted adorably.

"Only because Storm wasn't about to let you die with out releasing some of her, what did she call it..." Xavier tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Righteous Feminine Fury?"

Jean shook her head, amused as she took her seat. She gave everyone a quick look, idly noticing Rogue and Scott wasn't at the table, before deciding 'Hell with it.' and grabbing a sweet roll from the stack. The warm, moist, sweet syrup hit her taste buds and she could swear she slipped into Nirvana, so good it was she nearly zoned out.

"Morning Jean."

Jean startled something fierce, eyes wide with just a little syrup dripping from her lips, "Uh, oh... morning Scott!"

Scott chuckled, tapping his lip, "You got a little something there."

She touched her lip and blushed pink, mortified she wiped the syrup on a napkin, "...Thanks."

"Heh." he slid into his chair, idly glancing at the Adults sitting opposite on the table, smiling at each other in a way that just spoke of the deep camaraderie they enjoyed. "Looks like everyone's happy this morning?"

Jean nodded, grabbing another sweat roll. What did it matter now? She had only embarrassed herself in front of Scott, nothing worse could possibly happen from eating another sweet roll right?

"They've been talking ze whole morning." Kurt chuckled, "Did you know Storm had to fake being a belly dancer when they were trying to sneak into some military base in Iran?"

Scott blinked, "Huh? What? Really?"

"It's the truth!" Kurt grinned.

Jean tried to picture the calm, stoic, cool as a cucumber Storm in a belly dancers outfit. She failed, badly.

"There are just some things a nephew should never think about when it comes to his Aunt." Evan shuddered, apparently not the only one who found the thought of Storm Belly Dancing disturbing.

"I, like, think it's kinda cool!" Kitty chirped in in-between sweet rolls and orange juice.

"You would." Evan snorted. He glanced down the table at the laughing adults, ignoring Kitty's glare. "I'm out, see you at school." he grumbled, grabbing his skate board.

Logan tore himself from the debate on snow storms and why being left naked in them was cruel and unusual punishment to snipe off, "Don't forget we have combat training after school, bub."

Evan snorted, "Yeah yeah." he put on his head set and left.

Scott sighed, grabbing a sweet roll himself before standing up, "I'm out also. You two need a ride to school?"

"Hey, what about me?" Kurt pouted, lower lip pushed out and trembling.

Scott smiled, bemused, "Okay, you three need a ride to school?"

"Sure!' Kurt grinned, "Shot gun!"

Jean nodded, tearing her eyes away from the mound of oh so delicious sweet rolls not yet consumed. Maybe just one more? NO! She had to be strong. "I could use one."

"Like, yeah." Kitty grumbled, pushing her plate and half eaten roll away.

"Kitty, have you seen Rogue this morning?" Xavier spoke up as he rolled away from the table, Logan stepping up behind him. Jean could swear the feral like man was wiping a tear from his eye, and almost giggling as he left the Asian boy and Storm at the end of the table, the former glaring holes in his back while the latter just smiled on, amused.

"Like, not since she went into the bath room." Kitty grumped, "I could go check on her if you want?"

"Please." Professor X nodded, rolling his way out of the room with Logan in tow.

"We'll be outside waiting" Scott shot over his shoulder as he stepped out, Jean following after grabbing her book bag by the door, Kurt just BAMFED! away.

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She was dreaming, of a dark hall and a faceless figure. The figure moved from her, it's back to her. She tried to chase after it, to catch it, to tell it not to leave her alone, but no matter how hard she raced after him he kept getting farther and farther away. Despair gripped her, her veins burned, her legs felt like they were filled with battery acid.

She fell...

And Fell...

"Rogue?"

Rogue startled, water splashing from her sudden movement as she came awake. Blearily she gazed into a pair of brown eyes staring at her curiously, "Huh?"

"Like, you feel asleep in the bath tub!" Kitty sighed, "You better hurry up, you're going to be late for school!"

"Ah geesh." The southern belle grunted, shivering in the now cold water, "What time is it?"

"Ten past seven." Kitty sighed, "Look, got to go before Scott ditches me! You going to be okay?"

Groggily the Goth girl nodded, struggling out of the bath tub half asleep as the Shadow Cat phased through the wall. She limped tiredly to the mirror and stared at her reflection. She was pale, more then normal, with deep bags and slightly blood shot eyes. 'Damn it Rogue old girl, you just had to stay awake all night didn't ya?'

And she had. Thoughts of the Asian boy... man? Whatever, thoughts of him had blasted through her mind all night, thoughts of his ability, the possibility he would be able to suppress her power and let her live a more normal life. It was enough to drive her mad before when she didn't think it was possible, now it tormented her endlessly when living proof walked in the front door.

She shook her head, dispelling that thought. She had to hurry if she wanted to meet Risty in time for school...

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The kids were gone, Logan and Xavier were in the lower levels, Hank had yet to appear from the medical lab, which left the two of them alone. Storm smiled calmly, placing one hand over his, her fingers scraping his flesh tenderly. "What are your plans?"

Ranma smiled sadly, apologetically. "Sorry Ororo, but I need to make a trip to New York."

"Oh?" Storm was a master at hiding her emotions behind a calm facade, her disappointment at his leaving didn't even cause her to twitch.

"Yeah." Her lover grunted, "Just some contacts I need to check in with. I'll be back this afternoon, that's a promise."

"Contacts?" Ororo hmmed, "Still searching for leads to more Nova-tech?"

"Always."

She watched him for a time, her mind drifting to his Search and what it entailed, what would happen if he succeeded and managed to get home or if he failed again. She quickly buried those thoughts, lest the reality he could very well be leaving permanently hit home. She eyed her watch, 7:45 am, "Time to clean up."

Ranma nodded, stretching lightly before standing up, "Hope you don't mind me cutting out, doubt they'll have any information for me, so I should be out and back pretty quick."

"I can manage." Storm said simply, stacking some plates. Ranma grunted, heading for the door. He almost made it when little black streak came barreling down the stairs as if the fires of hell were on her ass.

"LATE! LATE! LATE!" The Southern belle all but shouted, jumping into the dining room and grabbing two sweet rolls before turning tail to run.

Ororo blinked, "Rogue!"

The Goth girl froze, looking back tiredly, "Storm?"

The Weather Witch eyed her watch again, frowning, "You're late, you won't make it to school on time."

"Ah, I know, fell asleep in tha bath tub." She sighed, adding "Sorry."

Ranma frowned, eyeing the girl and the disappointing look Storm shot her. He sighed, well it was time to do his good deed for the day, "Hey Ororo, I can give her a ride. It's on my way I think."

The Goth Girl turned and looked at him, as if noticing him for the first time. The way she stared at him unnerved him a bit, but he shrugged it off. "Uh.. nah, no thanks..." she quickly stuttered out, hugging her book bag defensively.

"Rogue, you'll be late if you don't get a ride." Storm shook her head, glancing at the boy, "Thank you."

"S'no problem." Ranma shrugged, grabbing his keys and heading out the door with Rogue shyly following behind, head held low.

Storm watched the door for awhile after they had left, sighing eventually she returned to clearing the table. If anyone was there to notice they would have seen her right eye twitching fiercely.

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Rogue didn't know what to say, and Ranma didn't seem to care to speak at all, so the ride went by in silence. She tried to ignore him by staring out the window, and it almost worked, but she couldn't help but listen intently to the sound of is breathing. Her heart pulsed in key with his idle finger tapping on the steering wheel, her body shivered every time he so much as sighed.

'Damn it girl.' She snarled at herself, 'Get over yourself!'

"Do I turn here?" his voice broke in, she jumped in her seat like a cat startled by a loud noise. Her cheeks flushed red at the curious look he was giving her. She didn't dare trust herself to speak, simply nodding. 'Stupid stupid stupid stupid' she was so enraptured with belittling herself she almost didn't catch sight of the girl walking along the sidewalk.

"Ah damn!" Rogue sighed.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" The boy blinked, looking at her.

"Look, couldja stop and pick that girl up? She's a friend of mine, I guess she waited for me to show up too long."

The boy shrugged, pulling up beside the girl. Rogue smiled softly, grateful, quickly rolling down the window. "Risty!"

The girl, another Goth looking girl with short black hair folded over the side stared, "Huh? Rogue?"

Rogue waved at the girl, "Sorry I didn't show, woke up late! Hurry up an get in!"

Risty shrugged, jumping into the back seat. Rogue had barely managed to get the window rolled back up when Ranma chuckled.

"Well... fancy meeting you here Risty."

[][][][][][]

Ranma eyed the 'girl' with a friendly grin, "Didn't think I'd run into you here of all places. Small world huh?" He couldn't help but wonder just what on earth she was doing here in the first place, this wasn't exactly her normal stomping grounds.

Rogue blinked, glancing between him and the other girl, "Wait, what? You two know each other?"

Risty blanched, eyes widened, "Oh geesh... not you!"

The boy just shook his head, pulling back into traffic, "Now there's the annoying girl I know and love."

The other Goth girl snorted, glancing at the Southern Belle, "He's a friend of mothers, met him in London. He's a big pain in my ass."

Ranma just chuckled, "That's not what you said when you found out I was leaving."

"I hate you so much." Risty snarled.

"Ah, like music to my ears, those words." The boy just shook his head, amusement plain.

"Oh." Rogue finished, dumbly. "Hey, pull over here Mister Saotome, there's the school."

Ranma grunted, bringing the car to a stop, "None of that Mister crap, just call me Ranma."

"Ah... okay, Ranma." Rogue breathed, the words coming out a bit forcefully as she stepped out of the car and shut the door.

Ranma turned lightning fast towards the back seat, "This afternoon, three o'clock where I picked you up, don't you dare not be there 'Risty'."

Risty grumbled, "I'll be there." before getting out and slamming the door shut, hard.

Ranma watched the two girls meander into class, ignoring the curious glances Rogue shot back every now and then. His mind latched on and following the girl who called herself Risty.

"Well, looks like New York is going to have to wait." He frowned, putting the car in gear and driving off.

[][][][][][]

TBC

AN: Some things to discuss concerning the X-men Evolution series. I'm a bastard, and an asshole, and I'll shamelessly change things because I freaking feel like it. Most notably is Juggernaut, the Avatar of a Ancient God, not a freaking mutant. In Evo the gem was said to awaken his mutation, where in fact in the original Marvel verse the gem made him an Avatar of a god. I'm keeping it that way, because Juggernaut is god, there is no denying that. Attempts made to pussify him have been rejected in my reality.

Anyway, this chapter was originally going to be longer, detailing a far darker side to Ranma then he's let on with The X-Men. You'll see things you probably wouldn't believe Ranma to do, and I'll just give you the finger if you try to call me on it. Keep in mind Ranma is operating with 20+ years of experience beyond anything you've seen in the Manga, he's made Allies and Enemies, some good and some bad on both sides of the fence. He's been involved in more secret operations and less then humanitarian things and he's done it with no remorse.

Never forget, he wants to go home, but maintaining a spy network and paying off informants for the information he seeks doesn't come cheap. He's doing what he needs to do, and that's that.

Anyway, once again this is written for fun, my fun. C&C welcome, but I don't care.

Edit: Damn spacing pisses me off.


	4. Chapter 3

Nova

Written By: Matdeception

Rough Draft Begun: 7/12/11

Rough Draft Finished: 7/13/11

Revision Begun:: 7/18/11

Revision Complete: 7/18/11

Disclaimer: Would you please stop forcing me to write these bloody disclaimers? I'm running out of idea's to show my blatant disregard for this crap, while at the same time reminding everyone I make no money off this as the characters belong to rich people, most obviously not me.

Notes: Foesjoe; Didn't actually edit this, but he pointed out several mistakes and had me fix it myself. Also like to thank the people on the TFF forum, at least those in the Ranma section. Despite the low number of people in comparison to the other newer series, it's still a decent place to chill.

[][][][][][]

Chapter 3: Highway Loving

[][][][][][]

"You okay?" Risty lightly touched her friends shoulder, gently pushing her.

Rogue blinked, glancing at her in confusion, "Uh... what?"

"You've been zoning out all day." her friend looked concerned, "What's wrong?"

"Uh..." Rogue sighed, shrugging her hand off. She really didn't know what to tell the girl, not the truth of course, she doubted the girl would still be her friend if she knew she was a mutant. "... jus weird stuff." at the pointed look she got in return for that, she decided to elaborate a bit. "Jus... an Instructor at the school's been actin all weird, and I ain't use to seein em' like that."

"Instructor?" Risty frowned, face scrunching up cutely as she tried to imagine just which one. "Is it that old geezer?"

"Logan's always weird." Rogue deadpanned, "Nah, it's Ororo." she grimaced, "That kid... uh... Ranma shows up, and next thing ya know she's actin like a teenager, dressin skimpily, lookin like she's tryin to seduce the guy and..." she trailed off, wincing as she realized that's exactly what Ororo had already done. Or Ranma had already done. Gah, the two of them had already done together!

Risty crossed her legs, looking lost in distant thoughts, "Not surprised. I caught him and my mother..."

"What?" Rogue's eyes bugged out, "He, uh... with your mother?"

The English goth just nodded, "Pop had been out of town for a year, they met when she took me to a museum. Heh..." she shook her head in amusement, "They started talking about some stupid jewel piece being displayed there, and... well... dinner, dancing, then they gave me five pounds and kicked me out for a few hours."

"Uh... how do ya know, uh..." Rogue blushed, "Maybe... uh... they didn't?"

"Oh yeah, sure, they were just playing scrabble." Risty snorted at that.

"It's possible?" It sounded weak even to her, but the thought of the guy being with the mother of her best friend was just... ugh.

"Sure it's possible." Risty allowed sarcastically, "But when I came back three hours later, they were still going at it." she blushed slightly, "... in my bed even!"

"Ugh." Rogue covered her face, praying her blush wasn't showing through her makeup. "That is so messed up."

"I was only eleven..." Risty continued, "... when I found out exactly how embarrassing the question 'Is this Risty's wetspot, or mine?' was." she shuddered, "Stupid mom."

Rogue suddenly felt sick, "Ugh."

"You're telling me." her goth friend shrugged, "At least he was only there a week..." she frowned then, idly rubbing the back of her neck, "... strangest thing, now that I think about it."

"What was strange?" The Southern Belle looked curious.

"Well... that jewel he and mother talked about?" Risty frowned thoughtfully, "... I think it went missing about the time he left."

"Wha... ya think he stole it?" Rogue blinked.

"Him..." Risty chuckled lightly, shaking her head, "... not possible. You'd have to be some kind of magician to break into that place."

Rogue just frowned.

[][][][][][]

Duncan spared the redhead a glance, watching her talk to her friend Taryn near her locker. It was the brief break in-between classes, he hoped he had enough time to do this. Idly checking his hair, making sure it was just perfect before closing his own locker and heading towards the gossiping girls. If everything played out just perfectly, today would be the day he'd finally get into Jean's oh so enticing pants, and if not... well... maybe some head?

He nodded. That would be all kinds of awesome. He strutted up to the two girls as casual as he could. Taryn saw him, but Jean was facing away. He inched closer, counting the steps remaining as he went. Ten feet, five feet, two, one... victory! He wrapped one arm around his girls thin waist, pulling her into his embrace as he whispered tantalizing in her ear. "Hey babe."

Jean turned her head, smiling that too cute smile of hers. "Duncan..." she whispered, eyes narrowing slightly, "... what have I told you about public displays of affection?"

The blond quarterback sighed internally, but dared not show it on his face. "That you don't like it." he kissed her cheek, backing off slightly afterwards. "So, how's things going with you two?"

Taryn shrugged, messing around with her locker a bit, "Same ole, same ole. Jean was telling me about cheer leading practice being rescheduled."

"Oh?" Duncan asked curiously, "Isn't that weird? Football practice was cancelled too."

Jean blinked, "What? I thought Couch Klien was all gung-ho about winning the city championship, why would he cancel..."

"You really are out of the loop." Taryn snorted, "It's, like, practically public knowledge he started dating Miss Milton."

"Ah..." the redhead rolled her eyes, "... well, I guess that explains both football and cheer-leading practice getting cancelled."

Duncan nodded, "Yep, I give em a week, two tops before they get sick of each other and break it off."

"Duncan!" Jean frowned, playfully slapping his arm, "That's not nice!"

"Wow." Taryn drawled, "Just wow. 'That's not nice', what are you Jean, a goodie two shoes?"

Duncan grinned, thumbing himself. "She'd have to be, to keep this bad boy in line."

"That was so lame I won't even counter." Taryn rolled her eyes, closing her locker.

"Meh..." the blond boy shrugged, "... Anyway, since we both have practice off, you wanna head to Beeville? Catch an early movie, maybe do some shopping at that Mega-plex?" He honestly had no intention of going to the mall. Woe was he to be the baggage bitch.

Jean thoughtfully considered that. "Well, don't have anything else planned. Sure, as long as we're back before eight, it shouldn't be a big deal."

Duncan quickly calculated the time. School out at three, hour trip to Beeville, hour to two hours for a movie, a light snack, and a good ole romp in the back of his car before dropping her off. Yeah, if they managed to get there quick enough, it would be just enough time...

"Sounds good." Taryn grinned, "It'll be nice to get out of this plain, boring town for awhile!"

"It's not that bad..." Jean defended weakly, before smiling brightly, "Oh! I can finally grab that purse to match my sundress!"

"Purse?" Taryn boggled, "To hell with purses, think of the shoes! Awww, little open toe heels with those oh so cute ribbons." she said, practically gushing that last part out.

Duncan quickly calculated his chances of getting anything...

"The heck is wrong with you?" Taryn blinked as the star Quarterback moaned miserably to the side.

[][][][][][]

Ranma spared the crowd of people a glance, seeing nothing that would even hint of her presence. He eyed his watch, frowning; Three fifteen. School should have been out by now, but where the hell was she? He didn't think she'd be stupid enough to run off on him, especially not after that screw up on her part in Russia.

When the door suddenly opened, a woman with bright red hair and a tasteful dress taking a seat, he realized she had gotten much better at hiding her aura. He put the car in gear, and zoomed down the street.

"Well, here I am." she said after several minutes of silence, crossing her arms but keeping her gaze out on the passing scenery; Houses and small businesses mostly.

"Being here is the problem." Ranma said, turning at the light and heading over towards the interstate. "The whole 'Risty' persona, being Rogue's friend, and Rogue of course being one of Baldy's students. What are you playing at, I wonder?"

She leveled him with a pointed stare, "Rogue happens to be my daughter."

"Hah!" Ranma chuckled, shaking his head. "Like hell she is; Oh sure, she has that whole 'I'm dark and miserable, leave me be' look down pat, but the psychotic hatred for anything and everything that can't fire bolts of lightning out their ass, throw cars like bowling balls, or make peoples head explode kinda throws that out the window."

"None of my children have that." she pointed out angrily.

"Well, why would that be I wonder?" he made a show of looking stumped, before snapping his fingers, "Oh I know; It's cause you abandon them to the wolves if they don't pop out of your snatch shooting laser beams and proclaiming humanity's destruction."

"Fuck you." the woman said nastily, glaring.

"Now, now." he chuckled some more as they got on the highway, where he floored the accelerator and dashed in and out of lanes like a pro. "We did that in Russia, and might I add it was absolutely mind blowing?"

Mystique sneered at that, "Way I remember it, you cried like a little girl."

"Well, yeah." Ranma nodded matter of factly, "You did take my virginity."

"What?" the red head boggled, "You were a virgin?" she frowned, "Liar. No virgin is that good their first time."

"That's not what you screamed..." he chuckled, ignoring the screeching cars and honking from pissed off drivers he cut off.

"Screw you." The woman snarled, rolling down her window.

"Again, we did that." Ranma pointed out helpfully, "Although, the chloroform was a bit much."

"You were in my way." Mystique pointed out just as helpfully, "Crintok's jewel was mine."

"It may have been at first, but I do remember swiping it from you." he paused momentarily, "Uh... after recovering anyway."

"Yes... yes you did." She scowled angrily, shifting down and to the right in her seat before kicking him in the face. The blow did little to phase him, but it did cause him to swerve the car, nearly ramming into a nearby semi. She kicked him twice more, each blow stronger then the last until he caught her foot and yanked her mightily. Crotch slamming into the stick shift, Mystique gritted her teeth, slamming her free foot down into his crotch.

Ranma winced, letting her go. She took the opportunity to push away, grabbing the edge of the roof and pulling herself bodily out of the car and onto the roof. He just rolled his eyes at that, so that's the way she wants to play this. Well... he aimed to please.

[][][][][][]

Duncan adjusted his rear-view mirror, unable to keep the glare off his face at the sight of it. Taryn and Jean, sitting in the back seat and chatting about everything and nothing, with the wind blowing through their hair, brown and red strands flying about wildly. If that damn friend of hers wasn't here, Jean would be in the front seat, she'd be within easy range to dip down for a little... fun. But no, no that damn bitch had to come along. He couldn't just tell her to take a hike, either, cause then Jean wouldn't want to go either.

Damn it, life was so unfair! He stared at the road ahead, littered with cars and semi-trucks making the possibility of at least finding comfort in speeding a far off dream at this point. What he wouldn't give just to...

A black sedan blasted past, easily doing a hundred and expertly zigging and zagging in and out of traffic like a pro-race car driver. He stared at the vehicle dumbly, especially when it suddenly veered left and nearly slammed into a semi. "Huh..."

"Careful Duncan." Jean had to yell over the howl of the wind. She had seen the car too and looked more then a little concerned about their safety, the maniac driver had certainly starting freaking him out with the swerving.

"Don't worry girl, I'm a good enough... what?" Duncan boggled at the sight of a gorgeous red haired woman crawling out of the passenger window, standing up on the roof. How the hell she managed that with out getting blown off by the sheer velocity was beyond him.

Taryn blinked, grabbing her cellphone. "What the hell is she doing?"

The driver side window suddenly blew out, the driver dragging himself out of the car and joining the woman on the roof. Unbelievably the woman leapt a good thirty feet, landing on the semi as the guy followed suit. The car, now driver-less, immediately began drifting to the side. Slamming into the semi, the truck lurched some before forcing the car to the right, where it slammed into the railing and broke through, flying off the bridge to crash deep below.

"What the fuck?" Taryn boggled as the woman... changed. Her skin shifting blue, her clothes becoming less a dress and more a two piece mini-skirt.

Jean stared at the woman dumbly, stunned shock evident.

[][][][][][]

Ranma bid a fond farewell to the sedan as it peter-panned off the bridge. Ah well, wasn't his car anyway. He ran along the length of the semi-trailer, falling into a slide. Mystique jumped over him, landing in a roll even as he slid off the end of the trailer. Catching the edge, he defied gravity by twisting and swinging back to the roof.

Mystique leapt forward, meeting him in the middle in a flurry of blows. He caught one of her fists, pulling her forward and off balance slightly, he lifted his leg and kicked her in the face once, twice, then three more times in rapid succession before lowering his leg and nailing her in the midsection with one final kick.

The blue woman bounced along the roof, nearly falling off the side if not for her desperate last ditch effort to stay on, managing to catch hold of a slight ridge along the edge of the semi-trailer.

"Pfeh." Ranma snorted, walking up to the woman struggling to maintain her hold, "Been skipping your training, haven't..." he blinked then as she suddenly leapt up, corkscrewing and landing multiple kicks to his face.

He staggered back even as she completed her attack, flipping back and landing on her feet. The boy couldn't help but grin, "Okay, neat move."

"Go to hell!" the shape shifter snarled, launching forward once more.

[][][][][][]

Duncan wasn't stupid. Once a scene straight out of the movies began to play out he slowed down and gained a fair bit of distance from the center of the fight. Other drivers around him did the same, not a single one daring to try and pass the semi with some kind of ass kicking contest taking place on top of it.

"Oh. My. God!" Taryn squealed, keeping her cellphone video-camera situated on the fight. Calling it a fight would be a bit of a stretch, as the blue skinned... thing was getting it's ass kicked by the guy in the red shirt. Duncan couldn't help but wince as the guy did a sideways aerial flip and slammed the girl on the head with a kick, knocking her down onto the roof with enough force it looked like she bounced.

Jean was silent, watching with wide eyed wonder. Poor girl was all but dead to the world as she was... hey wait, maybe he... he shook that thought off. Yes, he wanted to get some, but now was not the time.

The guy had pushed the blue skinned thing to the edge of the semi-trailer, where he reared back with both fists and slammed her in the chest. Unbelievable, the thing went airborne, arching high before beginning it's descent. As it fell Duncan had an epiphany... he finally understood what geometry was good for. He spent the last half second of the blue skinned thing's fall wishing he had thought of something else.

Whoever she was slammed into his windshield, crushing it inward. He nearly lost control of his vehicle there, but through blind luck he managed to get control before the car flipped over. Dazed, adrenaline pumping through his veins from the near crash, he thought he heard Taryn scream, or maybe it was Jean? He honestly couldn't think that straight.

The blue skinned woman slowly, painfully twisted onto her stomach, her yellow eyes glaring at the three of them with such brain splattering hate he was sure if she... it could, it would kill them all.

Jean was saying something, but he couldn't quite make it out. Whatever she said, the red haired thing locked eyes with her, before snarling. She jumped straight up, her body shifting like putty and becoming a raven that took wing, flying high and away from them.

[][][][][][]

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the bird-form Mystique. If she thought that trick would work on him again, she would be sorely disappointed. He brought his hands together and tapped into that expansive well of Ki laying dormant within. Light, glowing blue light surrounded his form and began to bleed off into the environment. Thicker and thicker the aura became until it was nearly an inch in diameter. He grunted, spreading his hands out as waves of ki began thrusting out. He leapt off the semi and took to the sky, blasting down the length of the highway at breakneck speed, using his hand thrusters to guide his flight.

He passed the smashed up convertible Mystique had landed on, not giving it's occupants even a glance as he rose high into the sky. It took only seconds to find Mystique flapping along as pretty as you please. If only he could see her face when she noticed him behind her, but aside from wide eye blinking before she rolled into a dive there was nothing to see.

Following closely, he was caught flat footed when she suddenly shifted back into her humanoid form, slamming into him when he failed to alter his course. They twisted, flipping over and over as he lost control of his flight. Briefly he wondered if he had made a terrible choice taking flight like this, but as they veered off the high way and crashed into a nearby field he found he really couldn't think about anything but the pain.

[][][][][][]

Duncan managed to finally get off the highway, pulling up to a gas station just before his car sputtered to a nasty death. To add insult to injury, his left front tire popped off it's axle, jostling the shocked and stunned girls in the car.

Taryn breathed after a time, "Wow." she looked at her cellphone, "That was... unreal."

"Is everyone okay?" Jean finally asked, coming out of her shocked stupor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Taryn mentioned, fiddling with her phone.

Duncan gripped the steering wheel, angrily gnashing his teeth, "My fucking car... they wrecked my fucking car!"

The redhead glanced at him, "I... I'm sorry Duncan."

"Sorry?" he trembled, taking deep shuddering breaths. Calm down, Calm down, don't get mad at your girlfriend. She didn't have anything to do with it, she didn't have anything to do with it damn it! "It's... it's fine." he glanced at Jean, "I... uh, don't suppose you know anyone who could give us a ride?"

Jean nodded, fishing out her own cellphone. She was typing in a number when a sudden message jumped on screen. She blinked, glancing back at Taryn, "You just sent me a mail?"

The brown haired girl shrugged, "Yeah, well. Sent it to everyone. I got most of that fight recorded!"

Jean groaned, "Now everyone is going to know about it..."

"Yeah, and?" Duncan scowled, "That... thing crashed my window, who knows what the fuck that guy was doing to fucking fly! Those freaks need to be locked away!"

Jean stared at him, eyes narrowed. If she was going to say something about it, she kept it to herself. "I'm calling Scott."

Duncan grimaced at that. Scott, that little prick from her school. That guy had an obvious crush on his girl, so much so he had debated about kicking the crap out of him. Well, if it wasn't for the fact Jean was utterly clueless, and would probably dump him if he tried...

He looked up at the blazing sun, sighing tiredly, "Can today possibly get any worse?"

[][][][][][]

"Ow..." he moaned miserably, blearily staring at the blazing sun in the sky overhead. A sun that was soon blotted out as Mystique knelled over him. She looked worse for wear, a nasty black eye marring her features, with dribbles of blood leaking from her nose.

"Little much." she said, gripping his shirt and pulling him into a rough, harsh kiss.

"Pfeh... you and your damn foreplay." Ranma shot back, suddenly grabbing her and wrestling her to the ground.

[][][][][][]

Storm idly poured a cup of fresh lemonade for herself and the children milling about the kitchen. Scott, Kurt, and Rogue were sitting at the small table diligently working on their at home assignments.

"I don't know." Kurt frowned, scratching the back of his neck, "The way you explain it, it would mean the equations Ybarra taught us today are secondary to the zero principal."

Scott nodded, "That's the way it is. They teach you all the formula's, but there's an order of importance you have to follow when solving for X."

Rogue grimaced, "Gah... what's tha point? Can't we just ignore that crap then?"

"In this situation, yes." the leader of the X-men nodded, "But if you switch Y and the A around you'd have to follow a completely different rule set, which would bring these equations into play."

"Stupid math. Stupid, stupid, stupid math!" Rogue growled, angrily scratching out all the work she had done on the problem.

Scott chuckled, "Hey, it get's easier the more you practice." he paused then, fishing his cellphone out of his pocket. He thumbed in the password, unlocking the phone and viewing his messages. He raised an eyebrow; A video message? What on earth could Taryn be sending. He opened the file, taking a drink of his lemonade as the video started up. When he saw Mystique, he spewed his drink in surprise, caking Rogue in the lemony goodness.

"Gee, thanks." Rogue snarled, grabbing a napkin.

"It's Mystique!" Scott scowled.

Kurt and Rogue both blinked, jumping from their seats and staring at the video. Rogue gasped, "She's fightin Ranma?"

Storm nearly choked on her drink. "What?"

Kurt looked up at her, "He's fighting her... uh... are they fighting on top of a Semi?"

Storm grabbed the phone, ripping it from a stunned Scott, ignoring his protests as she flipped the phone over and watched. "What is that idiot doing?"

Rogue and Kurt repositioned behind Storm to watch the video, just in time to see Mystique get smacked off the roof of the semi and slam into the car of whoever was recording it. Mystique rolled over, gripping the frame of the windshield and lifting herself up. The redhead glared at the owner of the phone, before her attention was taken by the redhead to the right.

The phone shifted slightly, showing Jean glaring at the woman. They could see her mouth moving, but the howling wind made hearing impossible. Then Mystique turned into a bird and took flight. The camera followed her a bit, before rezooming on Ranma, who erupted in a intense blue glow before rocketing off the semi and passing overhead. Whoever held the camera managed to track the blur Ranma had become, long enough to see something slam into him before he veered out of control, twisting and twirling at incredible speed to the east and away from the highway where he quickly disappeared from view.

Rogue scowled, looking at Storm, "Why tha hell would they be fightin like that?"

Scott snatched his phone back just in time to answer a sudden incoming calling, "It's Jean." He answered the phone, "Jean! What the hell happened with Mysti..." he paused, frowning, "Got it, be there soon." he flipped it closed, grabbing his coat, "Duncan's car is scrap, Jean needs a ride."

"Send that video to my cellphone." Storm ordered, glancing at Rogue seriously, "I don't know, but we'll find out."

[][][][][][]

Scott said nothing as Duncan leaned in, stealing a rather heated kiss from Jean. The blond bastard looked up and winked at him, before turning around and strutting to his home like he owned the world.

Jean rolled the window up, glancing at Scott, "Has anything come up about the incident?"

He grunted, putting the car in gear, "No idea. Ororo took charge, what she decided to do is up in the air."

"I can't believe Mystique is back." the redhead frowned, "And Ranma, just up and fighting out in public like that? We're lucky no one was hurt!"

"Maybe Mystique didn't give him a choice." Scott pointed out as he zoomed down the street, "She certainly wouldn't give a damn about potentially hurting innocents."

Jean didn't seem convinced, but he quite frankly didn't care whether she was or not. He hated to admit it, but that ass Duncan had really, really irritated him. Probably the point of the kiss, he could logically admit to himself, but that didn't make it any easier to swallow. The rest of the drive home was in utter silence.

[][][][][][]

Ororo glanced around, looking for something, anything that might help them find where Ranma crashed. She revved her motorcycle, before zooming off down the dirt road. She activated the radio in her helmet, "East side Lambert farm is clear, no sighting."

"Yeah, same with the Eskel's." came Logan's grim reply, "Still getting his voice mail, little prick probably left his phone in that damn stuff space of his again."

"Heading to Victoria." she cut a corner sharply, expertly retaining traction as she picked up speed again. "Any word from home?"

"Scott and Jean are back." Logan paused, "And Chuck hasn't been able to track Ranma with Cerebro."

"Not surprising." she returned, cool as a cucumber, "But disconcerting."

"Yeah." Logan grunted, "He's either dead, or purposefully shielding himself."

Ororo frowned, "That irritating man will have some explaining to do." Needless to say she didn't think the chances of him being dead were all that realistic. When she found him, those chances might jump, especially if he didn't have a damn good reason for taking part in a battle on a busy highway.

"Heh." Logan grunted, cutting the line.

[][][][][][]

The splash of water brought him from the pleasant nap he had been taking. He glanced around, eying the tall grass they had laid down in. He yawned, sitting up and rubbing his hair. Idly picking some grass out, he tossed it to the side and stood up.

The moon was full, casting it's gentle light across the field, creating a subtle glow that lit the area enough for him to make out the pond. He could see her swimming there, washing away the dirt, grime, and other signs of their exertions. Now that seemed like a good idea, he decided as he leapt for the pond. He came down with a splash, submerging into the cool water. Needles burned across his body as he lost mass, slimmed down while gaining perky breasts. She broke the surface, hair now burning red. Rubbing her face, Ranma spied Mystique, resting in the middle of the pond by some rocks.

"Hell of a hello, eh?" she said, swimming up next to the true shape-shifter.

Mystique glanced at her, blue skin reflecting interesting off the water still dripping off her hair. "Eh... I've had better."

Ranma pouted, "You're mean."

"That I am." She sighed contently, letting the other woman pull her into an embrace. She imagined a great deal of women wouldn't exactly feel comfortable having a lover who could switch genders with just cold water, but she was hardly what one considered typical. Silence descended between them for a time, the two just enjoying presence, before nagging thoughts on her part brought an end to that. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ranma shrugged, "Vacation."

"Vacation?" Mystique blinked, incredulous, "I didn't think you actually took those."

"Meh." she grunted, "I don't, but Nova-tech leads have been pretty dry."

"Ah." Mystique nodded, "So what, you just happened to decide to slum here? Right where I'm working?"

"Eh..." the boy-turned-girl looked at her, "... not my fault you picked to slum right where Baldy set up shop."

"Baldy..." she frowned, "... Xavier? You're here because of him?"

"Yep." Ranma saw no reason to lie, "Offered to let me crash at his place once upon a time, decided to take him up on it." she shrugged, "Since I had some contacts in New York, the type you can't just call, figured why the hell not?"

Silence reigned between them, which Mystique was utterly thankful for. It gave her time to think, time to contemplate just what she had heard. Everything she knew about Ranma spoke of him as a rogue element, he didn't particularly care about Xavier's dream of mutant kind living together with humans, and especially didn't care about keeping their existence secret to avoid persecution. He also, much to her dismay, didn't care to rule humanity as the obvious superior species. He, quite frankly, didn't give a damn if this world nuked itself to death, so long as his precious Nova-tech search wasn't interrupted by it. Nova-tech, the strange technology he talked about that she had never seen, only heard about during his endless search. Hmmm... actually... maybe... yeah, she'd need to look into that. If she could get her hands on some of that Nova-tech, she could secure an at least temporary alliance with him, which could only serve her plans if she utilized his myriad of talents in just the right way. Speaking of talents...

"When did you learn to fly?" Mystique glanced at the boy-turned-girl, "I know you didn't know how back in Russia."

"Eh..." she shrugged, "... I figured the basics out in Canada years ago. That's actually how I met Baldy."

"Stumbled upon you, did he?" She sought to clarify.

"Uh..." she grimaced, "... no. I, uh, kinda ran into him." she took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I crashed into his helicopter."

Mystique blinked, the sudden image of Ranma plastered to a window popping up in her mind. "Heh... bet that hurt."

"Like you wouldn't believe." the girl confirmed, "But, I've no complaints. It was a quick friendship."

"I'll bet." Mystique just shook her head at that, innocently adding, "I've even heard you started up a... relationship with his pet witch."

"Ororo?" Ranma shrugged, "Yep, I did." she frowned then, "How did you even hear about that?"

"Rogue." the true shape shifter said simply, "She was pretty damn irritated about it."

"Huh." the cursed martial artist blinked, "Why the hell does she even care? It's not like we fucked in front of her!"

"Now that's a question I've been wondering about myself." Mystique hmmed, "Speaking of which, how exactly can you do that with her? Far as I know, she needs to maintain a ironclad calm in order to keep her powers from raging out of control." she frowned then, "This is just me, mind you, but I'd imagine fucking would be rather counter productive."

"Ah, that." she chuckled in response, "Well, after... meeting Baldy, I also met her. Now, I won't say we got off on the right foot, actually we got off on a rather apocalyptic foot." he grimaced, "Twenty minutes after meeting her I was running for the hills, dodging lightning bolts and struggling to remain standing from the winds."

Mystique leaned in close, enjoying the warmth of her lover's body, letting her explain with out interrupting.

"Well, that went on for hours. Thing is, during it all I was slowly learning how her mutation worked, how to harmonized with her surroundings and the effect it had on her aura. Took a bit of finagling, but I eventually got my aura to match her's, only I introduced a subtle degeneration, hoping it would be enough to make her fry herself instead of frying me." Ranma continued her explanation, idly splashing some water around, "When I hit her with it she all at once lost her powers." she grinned lecherously, "Little more then a happy accident, really. An accident she made damn sure I knew was just that, a happy one."

Mystique frowned, "You shut her power down?"

"Yep." Ranma nodded, "And since then, whenever we're together and in the mood, we fuck like bunnies."

The true shape shifter nodded, "Ah... well, that explains Rogue."

"How do you figure?" Ranma asked, sounding oh so curious.

"Rogue drains peoples power and memories via touch." she explained slowly, "Unfortunately her power is always active, and she hates it with a passion I usually reserve for Magnus."

Ranma just frowned, "Okay, that sucks, but what..." she blinked, realization dawning on her. "Oh."

"Yes, Oh." Mystique snarled, "And if you even try to fuck my daughter, I swear I will end you!"

The boy-turned-girl blanched, "Ugh, are you kidding? She's what, fifteen?"

"Sixteen." she helpfully pointed out, "And I don't care if she's thirty, keep your hands to yourself."

Ranma looked at her curiously, "First off, I have no interest in fucking a sixteen year old. Second off, when she is thirty and she decides she wants to fuck, it'll be none of your damn business!" she glared then, to keep her lover from interrupting, "And third off, if I'm still around when she hits thirty I'll have bigger problems to worry about then banging some thirty year old virgin!"

Mystique looked cross, "A simple 'Okay' would have sufficed."

"Oh..." she shrugged, "Okay."

Sighing, Mystique broke away from her lover and stood up. "Way past time for me to go." she eyed the boy-turned girl seriously, "Don't tell..."

"Anyone about you being Risty." she finished for her, waving the woman off, "Couldn't care less."

Mystique winked, before leaping up and shape shifting into a bird, beginning the long flight back to Bayville.

Ranma watched her go, before flicking her arm to the side and retrieving her cellphone from stuff space. She wasn't the least bit surprised to find forty seven messages blaring at her. She dialed in a number and made a call.

"Yeah, Logan? It's me, Ranma." she quickly jerked the phone away as the guy practically deafened her with his angry yelling. Sighing, she just shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm... er... you know I don't know where the hell I am." she mumbled under her breath, "Ryouga, this is all your fault!"

[][][][][][]

Logan pulled his helmet off, setting it down and attaching it to the end of his bike. He checked his watch, grunting. Nearing ten, he had been half hoping it was nearer eleven when he got home. That way they'd be able to avoid the kids, at least for tonight. He could already imagine the questions brimming in their juvenile minds, just waiting for a target to unleash it on.

Ah well, had to face the piper sooner or later. He took the elevator up,, and headed for the kitchen where, surprise surprise he found them sitting at the kitchen table. Jean had a blank stare that fell into a disappointing frown when she noticed the lack of Ranma.

"Did you find him?" she asked

"Yep." Logan nodded, grabbing two cups from the cupboard.

"What happened?" Scott asked, much to the collective nods of the other kids. That was the million dollar question, wasn't it?

"No idea, you'll just have to ask Ranma when he gets back." he poured two cups of water, taking one and putting it in the microwave. He set it to thirty seconds, then turned and leaned against the counter.

"Was he ahright?" Rogue put the question forth.

"He's not injured." the feral like man scratched his chin, "Maybe a little banged up, but he's had worse."

"That's cool." Evan grunted out, "He's with aunty then?"

"Shouldn't be too long. They got caught at a light." he opened the microwave, taking the almost burning hot cup of water and setting it down. "Anyway, since it's about to come out let me just get it out of the way now."

"Uh... get what out now?" Kurt asked curiously.

"The curse." Logan snarled to forestall questions, "Look, I'm sick to freaking death of hearing it, so listen to my explanation and keep your damn questions to yourselves. Or I swear I'll dedicate the rest of my life to making your lives absolutely miserable!" he pointed one finger, glaring at the lot of them, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh... yeah." Rogue nodded, wide-eyed. The others quickly followed suit.

"Good." he grunted, "To the point, it's a Curse, cold water activates it, hot water switches him back. He's a guy."

Jean raised an eyebrow at that, "What are you talking about?"

"Telling them about the Curse?" Xavier looked at the feral like man, wheeling into the kitchen. "Don't you think that's a bit light on details?"

"I don't care, Chuck." Logan moaned miserably, "You know how it'll end if he tells it, it's how it always ends!"

"Ah..." Xavier nodded knowing, "You just don't want to mop up the mess."

"Right." Logan nodded, "So please, please... let me just explain it now?"

"Ah... go ahead." The bald man shrugged.

"Explain what?" the feminine voice grabbed their attention. The kids blinked at the vibrant redhead staring at them, wearing black silk pants and a loose fitting muscle shirt that did very little to hide her generous assets. The young woman looked at all of them in turn, winking saucily, "My eyes are up here, kids."

That shocked them, several turning to the sides and chuckling in embarrassment. Rogue raised an eyebrow, glancing at Jean who shrugged in response. "Uh..., miss." Scott coughed, failing miserably to hide his blush, "... uh, I'm Scott... who are you?"

"Ah, it's me, Ran..." she froze as Logan stepped up and splashed her with the burning hot cup of water. She screamed, a scream that turned masculine half way through as the girl shifted into the dark haired youth they had met only a few days ago. "OW!" he snarled, glaring at the feral like man angrily, "What the hell did you do that for?"

Logan ignored him, rounding on the kids. "It's a curse. Cold water activates, hot water turns him back. He's a guy. Now keep your damn questions to yourself!"

"What's with all the yelling?" Ororo stepped in behind Ranma, blinking at the number of people staring dumbly at the dripping wet Ranma and the serious looking Logan.

Xavier clapped his hands sharply, grabbing everyone's attention, "Yes, yes. He turns into a girl with cold water, hot water turns him back. He says it's a curse, and I can assure you there is no X-gene at play. When he changes he becomes female in every way that can possibly matter, and no, he doesn't like guys hitting on him while in that form."

"What the hell?" Ranma snapped, "You could have just given them the abridged version I typed up last year!"

"You actually wrote it down?" Logan blinked, "Well... color me shocked."

"Bah." the cursed martial artist grumped, sitting at the counter. "S'not fair. Ever since I wrote it I haven't even gotten to use it. It's like everyone already knows the story and they don't care to hear it again."

"I'd... uh, I'd like a copy." Jean threw out, a notion agreed on by the nodding heads of the other kids.

"Really?" Ranma asked, tone hopeful.

"I think we need to get back to the crux of the issue; What happened, Ranma?" Ororo interrupted, putting the topic back where it belonged.

Ranma glanced around, once again the very center of attention as eight pairs of eyes locked on. He shrugged, twisting in his seat and leaning against the counter, "Well, when I was a toddler my old man took me on this training..."

"Cute." Xavier cut in, half glaring, "We meant what happened today, with Mystique."

"Ah." the boy shrugged, "We met, fought, uh..." he glanced at the children apprehensively, "... and that's pretty much it." He wasn't fooling anyone with that.

Logan, thankfully, asked a more pertinent question, "How do you even know that woman?"

"Eh..." the boy shrugged, "Met her Sixteen? Maybe seventeen years ago in Russia. We weren't friends immediately, in fact we hated each others guts." he chuckled, remembering that month he spent with her, "Anyway, I had a job there for some one willing to exchange a piece of Nova-tech for some dumb ruby. Turned out she had been hired by a competitor who also wanted the ruby."

"So you stole it before she did?" Rogue frowned thoughtfully.

"Uh, no." Ranma shrugged, "We seduced each other, she used enough chloroform to kill an elephant, and did the job while I was knocked out." he ignored their stunned or disgusted looks, "I thought it wasn't fair. All I planned to do was shibari, keep her busy trying to get out of the ropes, but she beat me to the punch."

Kurt grimaced, saying nothing. It was hard to get mad at the guy for sleeping with his mother, given he didn't exactly have a relationship with her, but to have him speak of it so openly grated his nerves some what.

"Anyway, long story short I woke up, tracked her down, beat her up and stole the gem from her. Wasted effort, really, the slime ball lied about the Nova-tech." Ranma sighed, "I only walked out of that mess with a couple million, not worth the effort at all."

Ororo frowned, "I see. How did you come to meet her today?"

"Eh." the boy frowned thoughtfully, "Randomly spotted her aura on my way out of town. I confronted her, but she was busy with something and begged to meet later. She knew better then to run from me now that I had her on my radar, so I wasn't worried and let her go." he shrugged then, "She showed up on time, where I asked her, and then we had a nice chat about better times."

"Better times?" Xavier raised an eyebrow at that, "What exactly did you talk to her about?"

"Why she was even here." Ranma admitted freely, "She didn't usually slum in this part of the world, so I was curious."

"And... what was she doin here?" Rogue nearly snarled.

"Never got a specific reason." the boy allowed, "I pressed her, but I may have pushed her a bit." he rubbed his jaw pointedly, "She got violent, things went south quick after that."

"Then you engaged in a battle on the interstate highway?" Xavier frowned.

"Eh... yeah." Ranma blinked, "How'd you find out about that anyway?"

"Well, a curious bystander happened to record the event." Ororo pointed out.

"And the police contacted me about my Sedan currently in pieces at the bottom of the highway." Xavier glowered at that.

"Ah." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Uh... sorry?" he frowned then, "The transmission was slipping by the way."

"Shut up." Logan snapped, "What happened after the highway battle?"

"Ah, that." Ranma shrugged, "With foreplay out of the way, Mystique fell back on old tricks and we had a good time."

"Unbelievable." Xavier grimaced, "Did you at least learn anything of her intentions here in Bayville?"

"Sure did." he said, falling silent afterwards.

"And?" Rogue stressed the question.

"And it's none of your business." the cursed martial artist ignored the stares and glares he received with that remark.

"Ranma, she's dangerous." Xavier frowned, "Whatever she's planning can only end badly. If you know anything..."

"This is an old argument, Chuck." Ranma leveled a half-lidded glare at the man.

Logan grunted, "You'll need to chose a side one day."

"No, I won't." the boy snorted, "The lot of you want to hide what you are from the world, fine. That's your prerogative. I think it's a waste of time, but hey, free will and all that." he cut Xavier off before he could start, "Did I not tell you I couldn't care less about this dream of yours to live in unity with other humans. This isn't my fight, it isn't my place. How you choose to live, even if I think it's stupid, is your choice."

"But Mys..." Kurt found himself cut off just as quickly

"Mystique's goals are her own. I don't care for her dream of homo-superior domination anymore then I care for your dreams." He bit out harshly, "I will not involve myself more then I have too, and I will not play spy for either side. What knowledge I have is mine to keep, and you should know better then to press me on this."

Xavier stared at the boy for a time, almost glaring even. Eventually he wilted, with a tired sigh he nodded, "You're right. This is an old argument, one I should have considered before asking the question."

"No harm no foul." Ranma stood up, stretching. He glanced at Storm, but the cold look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. "Anyway, I'm gonna crash on the couch. Night folks."

[][][][][][]

TBC


	5. Chapter 4

Nova

Written By: Matdeception

Rough Draft Begun: 7/20/11

Rough Draft Finished: 8/6/11

Revision Begun: 8/6/11

Revision Finished: 8/7/11

Disclaimer: I own a cat named Mouse. He is awesome. That is all.

Author's Notes: Foesjoe for the blood test idea.

-0-0-0-

Chapter 4

-0-0-0-

Ranma blearily opened his eyes as he woke. It was dark, soft light from the outside lamps pushing their way in through the half closed blinds covering the window. He glanced around, slightly confused to find himself sleeping on a couch. He could make out the coffee table, the big screen TV and other pieces of furniture that made up the living room of Xavier's mansion. Remembrance trickled in, and he sighed as he sat up. They were all upset with him, either by his actions or his refusal to yield whatever critical information they imagined him to have, which meant now was the best time to skip town.

He shook his head, idly getting to his feet and heading for the kitchen. He opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of orange juice and sitting it on the counter. Momentarily pondering getting a cup, he shrugged that thought off as he popped the cap and took several generous gulps of the tangy liquid. Yeah, it really was the best time to leave. The kids here barely knew him, they'd forget he existed and likely wouldn't remember him within a month or two, which suited him just fine. Logan knew enough to not let a man's personal choices upset him for long, and Xavier was nothing if not understanding to the point he'd likely stop being angry inside a day or two. Ororo... well, that was a bit of problem. The Weather Witch may appear calm and controlled most of the time, but she could hold a grudge like it was no-bodies business.

The cursed martial artist sighed, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly. She would remain angry at him for a long time, months most likely, but whatever. She knew his stance on their oh so precious dreams of uniting humanity and mutant-kind, knew he would not involve himself in a fight that he had no right to involve himself in. This was their world, this was their fight and their dream, he was an interloper here who had no right getting involved. Whatever, he'll check back in with her in a year or so, give her some time to mellow. Gah, this was exactly why he tended to avoid the Weather Witch nowadays. Sure, they'd enjoy several days of orgasmic bliss, playful banter and all around good times, but then something would always come up about that damn dream of theirs and she'd chill faster then a freaking glacier. What the hell did she want from him?

"Bah." he grunted, taking one last swig of juice before putting the bottle back in the fridge. He blinked then as the refrigerator closed, noticing a plain white envelope with his name on it held to the door by a magnet. Ranma frowned as he grabbed it, opening it and dropping it's contents into his hand. A neatly folded letter with a single key. Opening the letter curiously, he felt his heart clench in his chest.

'I'll miss you. Please don't stay away so long this time. Signed, Your Friend; Ororo.' He felt his eyebrow twitch at that. Either he was becoming entirely predictable, or that woman just knew him too well. Ranma looked up at the roof, frowning thoughtfully.

-0-0-0-

Ororo sat on the veranda, eyes lost in the deep black eternity of the night sky. Light from the setting moon reflected off her silver, almost see-through nightgown and starch white hair, creating an incandescence that illuminated her figure for all around to see. She listened to the night-time animals, the hoots of owls and the song of crickets combining into a symphony of life. She sighed softly, mind drifting in memories, of her time in Kenya, of meeting Xavier and the training that followed. Of Ranma... and that silly fight they had when they first met, and of all that came after.

She could admit it, at least to herself, that having Ranma here made her feel more complete then she had ever felt before. This had nothing to do with being intimate, nothing to do with the heated cries of passion and the wonderful release that would soon follow. He was her friend, her confidant that she could tell all her secrets and woes too and not fear him refusing to listen. Yet... even if he was all that to her, what was she to him? It was a question she always asked herself when he visited, and it was one she had yet to find an answer for. Was she simply a friend with benefits? A woman he could enjoy some 'down-time' with, no strings attached? Or was she something more? He maintained that emotional divide, accepting her in his arms even as he closed off his heart.

Ororo sighed, closing her eyes tiredly. If only he had been born in this world... if only he was willing to stay, rather then search for a way to return to the ones he had been forced to leave behind. It was selfish of her to wish for such, she knew. What would she do if she happened to be in that situation? If she found herself forcibly ripped from Xavier, or Logan, or the kids, could she really just accept her fate and leave them behind? No, she could not.

A stuttering roar drew her out of thoughts. She stood from her chair, stepping up to the stone rail and eying the garage as Ranma zoomed off on a motorcycle. She watched him leave, watched him as the gate slowly opened and he rode out and vanished from sight. She stood there for a time, how long she didn't know, but long enough for clouds to gather overhead almost of their own accord. As soft rain began to fall, she turned and stepped inside and closed the door.

-0-0-0-

She was hurt, hiding from people who would use her momentary weakness against her. She laid back, resting her aching head on a pillow of feathers. She just needed to sleep, just needed to rest and recover...

'To think a coupling took place with the likes of this one.' A voice, old, muted. She couldn't hear the words, she could only feel them as she suddenly lost the ability to so much as move her fingers or toes...

-0-0-0-

Rogue startled awake, gasping desperately for breath as her heart beat like a thundering drum. Deep breaths, calming breaths, inhale, exhale until she finally calmed down. What a weird dream, it was just so... weird. She shook her read, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before blearily checking the clock. She frowned at the time, 5:30. Her alarm wasn't set to go off for another hour, but here she was wide awake if not a little drained.

Momentarily debating about trying to go back to sleep, she shrugged that thought off and climbed out of bed. She knew she'd never be able to sleep so soon after waking from such a needlessly heart pounding dream. Ah well, looks like she'd be able to shower before Kitty for a change.

-0-0-0

Rogue softly closed the door to her room, lest she disturb her slumbering roommate. The halls were empty, lights dim as the others slept the last handful of minutes they had before their alarms went off. It was weird waking up early like this, to the silent house and no one around. Except for Storm, the goth knew she got up early every day to prepare them a healthy breakfast. Well, maybe she could give her a hand today, it'll certainly help clear her mind of yesterdays debacle with Ranma and Mystique.

Mystique, the mere thought of her made her gut wrench. To be betrayed by the woman who dared to call herself her adopted mother, guh, just thinking about it upset her. If it wasn't for her she wouldn't have run from the X-men, wouldn't have caused Scott or the others all the problems she did. Far as she cared, she had hoped the woman gone forever, but now that she was back she could only think of one thing; Smashing her damn teeth in.

She shook her head as she descended the stairs, dispelling those angry thoughts as she moved for the kitchen. There was a myriad of scents in the air, the soft sound of something sizzling in a pan touching her ears as she neared her destination. Rogue felt her mouth water, gulping back her sudden hunger as she entered the kitchen proper where she froze at the sight of it all.

Ranma, the curious guy who had shown up just a few days ago was there, moving between the stove and the counters as he cooked several dishes at once. He was dressed in an almost blinding white silk get up, shirt with matching pants that hung baggy and loose on him. The man in a boy's body glanced at her, winking, "Morning Rogue."

"Mornin..." she said hesitantly, eying the small stack of food set up along the kitchen island. Hash-browns, fluffy eggs mixed with thin bits of ham and bacon, pancakes that still had steam rising off them and... she felt her stomach roar as she caught sight of the glistening hush-puppies stacked several inches high.

The boy grinned slightly, motioning towards the food, "Go ahead and dig in. I'm making plenty for everyone."

"Uh... okay, th-thanks." The girl stuttered, still off kilter. "Uh... where's Storm?"

Ranma shrugged, "Still sleeping I'd guess." he turned to the stove, waving his hand over the sizzling eggs and bacon. Small motes of bluish white light trailed from his fingers as they moved, gently gliding down to the food before vanishing.

Rogue raised an eyebrow at that, "Uh..."

"Trick I learned in Africa." Ranma didn't even turn around, "Keeps the food fresh and warm, excites the taste buds and it's a nice pick me up in the morning." he glanced back then, with a knowing smile, "Hush-puppy?"

"Uh... yeah, thanks." she said, finally grabbing a plate and lifted some food from the island. She moved and sat at the kitchen table, glancing one more time at the boy still busily preparing breakfast, before picking up a single hush-puppy and nibbling on it.

Rogue shuddered as her taste buds exploded in absolute ecstasy, alien feelings of strength and confidence filling her chest as her mind suddenly sharpened to an absurd degree. "Guh!" she almost moaned, staring in wide eyed shock at her food.

"Good eh?" Ranma said, putting a cup of orange juice in front of her. "Take your time." he smirked, "I don't cook all that often, so enjoy it while you can."

Rogue grunted, ignoring the boy as she grabbed another hush-puppy and returned to her sensory nirvana.

-0-0-0-

Xavier stifled a yawn as he wheeled down the hall, idly making a mental checklist of his schedule for the day. Boy oh boy he had a lot to do; Impound lot, retrieve what items he could from his wrecked car, police reports and all sorts of bureaucratic nonsense. He sighed at that, reminded of the upset feelings he went to bed with the night prior. While yesterday's debacle had been more extreme then some of Ranma's other escapades, he knew the man enough to know he'd likely have taken off in the night, leaving the rest of them to cool off. He wondered how long the pigtailed boy would be gone for this time, six... eight months maybe? He always seemed to know when enough time had passed and angry feelings had cooled, which Xavier couldn't help but be grateful for.

It saddened him to think about it, but perhaps it was for the best. Things would get back to normal in short order, the kids would forget about him and soon enough all the agitated feelings would calm into something more sensible. He knew he would feel better with Ranma gone now that his association with a known enemy had been revealed to him. Though... he couldn't help but wonder just what Mystique was up too. He made a mental note, next time Ranma was in town to keep an eye on him. While he wouldn't reveal any information himself, if he could keep tabs on the boy he might be able to figure things out himself.

Xavier nodded. Yes, that would be a good idea. Now all he had to... he broke from his train of thought as the oh so delicious scent of freshly cooked food hit his nostrils. There was something there, something familiar that tantalized his taste buds, brought a feeling of fond remembrance to his chest. Wheeling into the kitchen, the headmaster blinked at the sight of it.

The kids were there, ravenously tearing into the rapidly dwindling mountain of food set up on the island. Rogue looked content, leaning in her chair and smiling happily as she rubbed her tummy. Scott, normally cool and collected boy that he tried to be, was engaged in a fork to fork battle with Evan over the juicy, steaming sausage patties before them.

Kitty grunted something unintelligible, free hand flicking towards the food. Kurt vanished in a puff from the table, reappearing at the island and grabbing a stack of waffles before bamfing back to the table, setting the waffles down, earning a soft mew from the California girl who viciously stabbed the offending food and dragged it to her plate.

Xavier boggled, glancing towards their unexpected cook. Ranma was leaning on the counter, watching the children eat in amusement. He held a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, idly breathing in it's dark aroma before taking a sip.

"Morning." Ranma raised his cup slightly in greeting.

"You... cooked?" Xavier sought to clarify. At the boys amused nod the older man turned and wheeled to the intercom. He pressed a series of buttons, before speaking, "Logan."

No reply.

Xavier tried again, raising his voice slightly, "Oh Looogan!"

A few seconds later, an annoyed grunt came through the speaker "G'way." The feral-like mans voice oozed exhaustion.

Xavier chuckled internally, ignorant of Ranma rolling his eyes, "But Logan, I thought you'd like to know Ranma cooked breakfast."

There was a crash, a soft sound echoing far off followed by repeated foot falls as the Wolverine slid into the kitchen. He wore nothing but loose pajama pants, his fierce eyes darting left and right before settling on the mountain of glorious sustenance before him. He sniffed tentatively, a rather manic grin spreading across his lips.

Kitty hiccuped, rubbing her lips before snarling sharply and waving towards the counter-top island.

Kurt grunted, vanishing in a puff of smoke only to reappear at the island, where he began reaching for a stack of oh so delicious pancakes.

"Don't even think about it, bub!" Logan snarled, slowly stepping up to the boy.

Nightcrawler glanced back, utterly oblivious to the syrup dripping off his lips. He tilted his head curiously, even as he picked up the plate of pancakes.

Logan snarled, the disgusting sound of skin tearing reverberating across the small kitchen as he brought his claws out. "I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth!"

Kitty glanced up, an angry frown marring her otherwise innocent features. She snapped between bites, "Grawwf sauwarf!"

Kurt blinked, shrugging as he put the pancakes down and grabbed a plate of sausages before vanishing in a puff of smoke, reappearing at the table. He barely put the plate down when Scott and Evan practically lunged for the simmering meat, their fork to fork battle escalating as Evan formed a fork of bone, and Scott stole Rogue's fork in turn. Now dual-wielding forks, they clashed in an epic battle that would not soon be forgotten!

"You have got to be kidding." Ranma snorted as Logan speared a stack of pancakes, "You'll hunt them down for stealing pancakes?"

Logan didn't even bother to respond, taking to his pancake-ka-bob with a gusto he usually reserved for his enemies.

"Congratulations Ranma." Xavier drawled, "You've turned my pack of mostly polite, well-mannered teenagers into sub-human beasts of insatiable ravenous hunger."

Ranma grinned, "Noticed you didn't mention Logan in that..."

Xavier snorted, "Couldn't turn him into something he already is."

"Point." Ranma chuckled, refilling his cup of coffee before pouring another for Charles. By the time he turned around the Professor was already spreading cream over some bagels, he had a rather dangerous predatory glint in his eye at that.

-0-0-0-

Jean ran back and forth, quickly grabbing her books and jamming them into her back pack before closing it. Late late late, she was so damn late! She looked around one last time, quickly scanning her room before stepping out into the hall, closing the door behind her and locking it. She turned around and blinked, catching sight of Ororo walking up the hall towards her. "Uh... morning Storm."

Storm nodded lightly, "Good morning, Jean." she frowned slightly then, checking her watch, "My, you certainly are late getting up today."

The redhead grimaced inwardly at that, being reminded just why she had overslept. "Yeah..." she breathed, walking down the hall side by side with the older woman, "... with what happened between your boyfriend and Mystique, I forgot all about my calculus homework. Couldn't sleep until I finished."

Storm tensed up a bit at that. "I'm sorry to hear that." she threw a pointed glance at her, "But to clarify, Ranma isn't my boyfriend."

Jean blinked at that. The two had been seriously involved with each other since the boy had shown up, so why was Storm denying her relationship to him? "Uh... I'm sorry, I just thought..."

"We may act as such." Storm sighed, crossing her arms, "But Ranma would never allow a title to be placed on our relationship, or any relationship for that matter."

"I... don't understand." Jean raised an eyebrow at that.

"The title boyfriend implies commitment." Storm explained as they descended the stairs, "Ranma will not acknowledge a commitment, to me or anyone."

Jean frowned at that. She could respect, if not agree with his stance on mutants and his desire to stay out of their troubles. She had assumed it was a guarded choice from some one who just didn't want to take sides, but now Storm's words made her wonder. Is choosing a side any different then the commitment he refuses to acknowledge? Why exactly does he push people, his friends no less, away like that? It was something to think about, at any rate.

"I see." she finally said, sighing. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, I'll keep my mouth shut around him about it."

"No need, Jean." Storm, while still the epitome of calm, took a slightly subdued tone as she spoke. "He left early this morning, he'll likely not return for some time."

Jean blinked. "Just left? Did he at least say why?"

"It's his way." the Nubian woman sighed, "He knew his presence, his choices, and his views were causing problems. Rather then stay and confront them, he flees."

"That's rather cowardly, isn't it?" Jean almost wish she could take those words back the moment she said them. Storm shot her a dark look at that. "Ah... I'm sorry."

"No." Storm sighed tiredly, "No, I'm sorry. You're right, of course. It is cowardly, but he has... reasons."

"If you say so." Jean shrugged as moved towards the dining room.

Rogue stepped out of the kitchen, hands locked behind her head as she smiled the most happy smile either women had seen on the Southern Belle in all the time they had known her. Jean was further thrown off balance as the girl practically skipped by them, cheerfully chirping "It's ah great day ta be alive, innit?'

"Surreal." Jean breathed in slight awe.

Storm smiled pleasantly, "Well... it's certainly good to see her in such bright spirits."

"Yes..." the redhead smiled slightly at that. "... it certainly is." she finished, stepping into the kitchen and boggling at the sight of it all.

-0-0-0-

Storm frowned, eying the rather frantic fork battle taking place between Scott and Evan over what looked like a sausage patty. Poor Scott, while an excellent leader, did not have quite the experience with melee weapons as her own dear nephew and was quickly finding himself struggling just to remain in the fight.

Kitty and Kurt were fighting to stuff as many waffles and pancakes down their throats as they could, with Logan jealously guarding the remaining pancakes on the counter island. He waved one hand with claws extended threateningly at the table of teenagers, just daring them to try and steal the fluffy goodness.

To her side, Jean boggled at the sight of it all. "Good lord! What's going on?"

Storm felt her chest tighten at the sight of Ranma, the boy sharing a cup of coffee with Xavier. He came back... she never thought in a million years he'd come back after leaving earlier. What changed his mind?

"Morning you two." Ranma waved lightly, nodding towards the island, "Help yourself Jean."

Jean chuckled weakly, "Ah, sorry. I'm on a diet."

"A... diet." Ranma frowned at that, glancing her over. "Why on earth are you on a diet?"

"Ranma." Storm breathed, stepping up to the boy. "Don't start."

"What?" The cursed martial artist blinked, "You can't honestly stand there and tell me that girl needs to be on a diet!"

"It's her loss." Xavier shrugged, ignoring or ignorant of Storm's warning look. "I certainly wouldn't give a diet a second thought, not with your cooking."

"Bah." Ranma stepped around the Nubian woman, grabbing a hush-puppy and stepping up to the redhead. "Eat this."

Jean blinked, staring incredulously at the boy, "Uh, no. I'd rather not..."

Ranma pouted adorably, crocodile tears forming in his eyes as his lower lip trembled, "... Please?"

Storm wanted to giggle at that. The sight of her... of Ranma, the sight of the boy employing the cute guilt tactic was amusing. And very effective, she had experienced it first hand several times and had always fallen to it. Even now, with the way Jean started sweating she could tell the girl was about to break any second.

Sure enough, Jean managed a weak smile, accepting the deep fried ball. She took a small nibble under Ranma's gaze, before her eyes widened in shocked surprise.

Ranma chuckled, turning back. "Yeah, diet my ass."

Jean ignored him, finishing the tasty treat in several bites before grabbing a plate and serving herself generous helpings from the island.

Xavier chuckled, wheeling around and exiting the kitchen as Jean began tearing into her food with reckless abandon.

Storm shook her head at that. "She'll be upset later, you realize."

"Maybe." Ranma allowed, "But come on Ororo, that girl is in perfect shape for her age. She doesn't need to diet anymore then you do!"

A sideways compliment? Storm smiled slightly at that, leaning up against the counter as Ranma stepped up to her. "Thank you."

The pigtailed boy grinned a bit, leaning up beside her. "It's just the truth."

-0-0-0-

Ranma busied himself... herself with washing the enormous amount of dishes cooking entailed. Ororo helped a bit, drying dishes as the red-head finished with them and put them away. The children had already long since gone, most leaving with a noticeable hop in their step. Jean looked happy for the most part, if not a little bit guilty about indulging herself and once again ruining her diet. While she happened to agree with Ranma about Jean and her lack of need to diet, it was still rather underhanded to force the girl to break it like he had.

"And this is why I hate cooking." Ranma grumbled, rinsing the pan before handing it off to be dried.

Ororo hmmed, rubbing the pan dry. "At least everyone left happy this morning."

"I noticed you didn't eat." The red-head shot her a curious look.

Storm smiled lightly, putting the pan away. "I didn't need the food to be in a good mood." she stood back up and looked at the boy-turned-girl, "Seeing you returned was enough for me."

"Ah... what made you think I left?" Ranma said nervously, pulling the drain plug. She turned the faucet on even as the water drained, letting hot water stream freely.

"I stayed up late and saw you leave." The Nubian woman confessed, "I'm not saying I'm not glad you stayed, I... well, I'm surprised."

Ranma looked at her then, her fierce gray-blue eyes burrowing into her own. "Maybe I'm just tired of leaving with you being upset at me."

Storm raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you saying you stayed for me?"

"Eer..." The girl coughed, slightly flushing. "... maybe."

"Ororo!" Xavier spoke loudly as he wheeled into the kitchen. "Have you seen the proof of insurance and title forms we kept on the Sedan?" the man turned his gaze to Ranma, "I need it to retrieve my wrecked car."

Ranma winced at the slight glare she received from the bald man at that. "Ah... sorry about that. I'll get you another one, promise!"

Ororo sighed, "It's in one of the file drawers in the sub-level archives; We put them there after having the car modified."

"Ah." Xavier nodded, wheeling around and leaving the pair alone.

Storm turned her gaze back to the red-head, "Now... where were we?"

Ranma passed her hand under the faucet, her form shifting and expanding as she returned to the gender of her birth. He turned the water off before looking directly into the woman's eyes. He stared for a time, before speaking sincerely. "I'm sorry."

Ororo grinned slightly then, stepping up and cupping the boy's cheeks and kissing him lightly on the lips. "Apology accepted." she affectionately rubbed his cheeks even as the boy grabbed her hips and pulled her body against his. He had a rather lecherous look to his eyes, but there was something else there. A degree of relief perhaps? The very thought he had been so concerned about her feelings in this matter made her feel suddenly warm.

"Kids are gone." Ranma waggled his eyebrows, "What do you say?"

Ororo just smiled, "Not until you get a blood test."

Ranma blinked, "What? Why the heck would I need..."

"Mystique has gotten around a bit." Ororo pointed out helpfully, "I'm not about to risk my beautiful body until you do."

The boy pouted adorably, "S'not fair. That takes weeks!"

"Oh I'm sure Hank could work faster then that." she let her hands fall, sliding down his chiseled chest and around to his butt. "Now off with you..." she playfully smirked, pinching his butt as she did so, "... and maybe when I get back from dealing with the whole crashed Sedan incident we'll be able to... have some fun."

Ranma nodded, a seriousness to his features Ororo rarely ever saw on the boy as he turned on his heels and raced down the stairs to the lower level.

-0-0-0-

Taryn grinned, enduring the pointed questions and unbelievable amount of attention she was receiving. She wasn't the most humble person to begin with, but even she was starting to get a mite bit irritated at the sheer popularity her chance recording yesterday had garnered her.

Jean rolled her eyes, leaning against her locker and staring at the crowd of her peers tiredly. They had swarmed the both of them when the arrived at school, and thankfully the crowds were lessening each period that went by, she just wish things would get back to normal soon. The faster people forgot about the fight the faster she could lose that nervous apprehension she felt. "Am I ever going to get my friend back?"

Taryn stuck her tongue out at the girl, "Don't ruin my high, girlfriend!"

The red-head sighed, "Whatever. I'm going to head to class, catch you next break!"

The brown-haired girl nodded at first, before suddenly leaping out and grabbing her shoulder. "Hey! Jean, wait a second!'

"Hmm?" Jean hmmed, glancing back curiously.

"Do you have the Calculus homework from last night?" Taryn blushed a bit, pressing her fingers together in embarrassment, "I, uh, didn't think to do it with all the excitement yesterday."

Jean snorted, "That excuse doesn't hold weight with me. I stayed up late just to get that homework finished."

Taryn huffed, "Aw, come on! I promise I'll return the favor!"

'Ah, why not.' While she wasn't one to condone cheating, it was hard to say no to a friend in need. Jean shrugged her bag to the front, zipping it open and fiddling with her folders. She frowned then, dangerously in fact, "Oh... oh no."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Jean frantically checked her folders again. Try as she might, she couldn't find her calculus folder. "It's not here!" she grimaced, trying desperately to think. Where was it last? She remembered taking it out, doing her homework last night before gleefully turning off her desk lamp and lunging into bed and falling fast asleep. Did she... argh! She probably left it on her desk! "Damn, I think I left it at home!"

Taryn sighed, "Of course."

Jean grimaced, pulling her cellphone out. "Of course nothing!" she half snapped, dialing the institute. "I am not risking an A- in that class because of this!"

"A-?" Taryn boggled, "Jean... I think you need to give this perfectionist streak of yours a rest."

Jean just ignored her, waiting for some one to pick up the damn phone.

-0-0-0-

The mansion was a lonely place with everyone gone, Ranma decided finally. Oh sure, Hank was in the sub-levels doing whatever it is that mad scientist wanted to do; His blood test for example. Not that he was concerned with finding anything like an STD, but if would put Ororo's some what justified concerns to rest. Aside from Hank and Logan though, the latter happily fallen into a food induced coma, there wasn't a soul in the house. The kids were gone to school, Xavier and Ororo went off to deal with the wrecked Sedan thing, leaving him alone to hold the fort.

Ranma paused, a buzzing from his cellphone grabbing his attention. Who the devil would be calling him now? He flipped the phone open and frowned. It wasn't a call, but rather a video message; He opened it and waited. The screen turned black at first, a silvery R flickering across the screen before an address and time stamp appeared beneath it, along with the message 'Dress to impress; +2 seats secured. Be mindful of the lights.'

'Rizo.' the boy grumbled. How the devil did that little bastard even know he was in the neighborhood? More importantly, what the hell did he have up his sleeve this time? Not for the first time since meeting the enigmatic man did he wonder what sort of trouble he was about to end up in. He examined the message again, frowning ever so slightly. Dress to impress said a lot, likely a high society event. +2 suggested he needed to bring a date, which could be problematic. Be mindful of the lights could mean anything, he'd just have to wait and see.

Ranma flipped his phone open, hitting in a number and waiting for the line to pick up.

-0-0-0-

"Look..." Ororo began calmly, even if inwardly she was gritting her teeth. "... we have the police report right here, as well as proof of insurance, title papers, and even a court order to let us examine the wreck and collect any personal belongings that remain. Why are we being given the runaround?"

The woman sighed tiredly, "We're trying to process the information as fast as we can. If you'd like to take a seat, we'll call you as soon as all the information clears."

Grumbling, the Nubian nodded, leaving the line and taking a seat. Xavier wasn't around, the bald man still busy chatting up his contacts in the local police department. What she wouldn't give it be in his shoes right now...

Her cellphone began ringing. She drew it out, smiling slightly at the caller ID flashing across the screen. Flipping it open she said with a smile, "Hey you."

"Hey Ororo." Ranma began, "How's things going for you?"

"Waiting and more waiting." The Nubian woman grumped, glaring at the teller who was busy speaking to whom she could only assume was a fellow employee. "Being given the runaround, and Xavier's using his contacts as an excuse to avoid the irritating lines."

"Ah... sorry to hear that." came his hesitant reply.

"Something wrong?" Ororo frowned, "Don't tell me Hank found something..."

"What?" The boy scoffed, "Not likely. Somethings come up, and I was wondering if you're free..."

The teller suddenly waved for her to come up.

"We'll talk later." Ororo cut him off, flipping the phone closed as she stepped up to the window. "Everything's in order, I hope?"

"Ah..." the woman winced, "... your insurance card was expired. We need you to call the company and have them fax us an up to date copy."

Ororo pondered the possibility of a sudden twister destroying the damn building.

-0-0-0-

Ranma sighed, flipping the phone closed. Well, okay, he had been kind of hoping things were square with him and Ororo again, but if the mere mention of asking her out caused her to cut off the line he could only assume he was still some what in the dog house. He debated idly about tracking down Mystique, but thought better of it. Last thing he wanted to do was alienate Charles or the others again. What to do...

The main line for the house began to ring. Distractedly he meandered over and picked it up, "Xavier's school, Ranma speaking."

"Ah... Ranma." It was Jean, and she sounded rather pensive. "Is Ororo there?"

"Nope." the man trapped in a boys body grunted, leaning up against the wall. "Xavier's out too. Only Hank and Logan here, the latter's in a food coma from breakfast."

"I see." she sighed irritatingly, "Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I need a favor."

"Shoot."

"After yesterday's excitement, I kind of forgot to put my Calculus folder in my bag." He could practically hear her frowning, "I have some homework I absolutely can not be late on turning in. Could you grab the folder from my room and bring it by the school? Say around eleven?"

Ranma grunted, "Yeah, I guess. Meet you in front?"

"That'll be fine. Thanks." she said curtly before ending the call.

-0-0-0-

Rogue had never felt more focused in her life. Perhaps it was Ranma's food, or perhaps her own mistrust with things in general, but between Risty's story and Ranma's follow up the night prior she had been left with doubts. They were eerily similar in many regards; Gem being stolen, met each other seemingly by random chance. The only real difference was the time, sixteen to seventeen years as opposed to four or five years ago from Risty's story. Still, and it pained her to even think of it, this cast some severe doubts about Risty in her eyes. She wasn't quite willing to make the assumption Risty wasn't who she said she was, but the notion was there, a kernel in the back of her mind almost coming to the fore.

"Something wrong, Rogue?" The English Goth looked at her curiously, "You've been staring at me an awful lot this morning."

"Ya said somethin about ah jewel goin missin just afta Ranma left, right?" Rogue cut to the heart of the issue; not particularly one to play around or subtle enough to get information by beating around the bush.

Risty blinked, "Yeah?" she frowned thoughtfully, "Don't tell me you don't believe me!"

"Uh, it's not that." Rogue shook her head at that, "Jus curious, is all. What kind of gem was it?"

Risty eyed her warily for a moment, before shrugging as she started digging in her pack. "Couldn't remember myself, and after seeing him yesterday I did an internet search on it." she pulled out a couple of papers. "Sapphire, least that's what the net says."

Rogue blinked, taking the papers and eying it thoughtfully. Sure enough a Sapphire, Medigio's Jewel, went missing five years ago. No suspects in it's disappearance, and it had yet to be found. As she read she felt that sudden guarded mistrust fade away; Risty was telling the truth. "Ah... ahright. Was jus wonderin."

The English Goth looked at her thoughtfully, "You thought I was lying, didn't you?" she accused.

Rogue winced, "Ah... no, I didn't mean it ta sound like that."

"Right." Risty huffed irritably, "I wouldn't lie to you about something like that, Rogue."

"Ah believe ya." Rogue hugged her book bag to her chest tightly. How to salvage this; A visit to the institute maybe? Risty always enjoyed the time spent there. "Hey... wanna come to the institute today? Pretty sure is a visitors day."

Risty shrugged lightly, a small smile coming to her lips, "If you're sure..."

-0-0-0-

Jean kept her gaze on the passing cars, nervously tapping her fingers against the chain-link fence she was leaning against. She eyed her watch thoughtfully, "Five past eleven, he's late."

"I hope he's not too much longer." Taryn grumped, "If I don't have time to copy it down he might as well not show up with it at all."

"Thanks Taryn." Jean rolled her eyes, "Never mind the fact I'll get a failing grade, right?"

"Eh..." The brown haired girl smiled weakly, "Sorry."

Jean shrugged, glancing around again. Just where was he that annoying guy? If he didn't insist on some kind of battle with Mystique yesterday she wouldn't even be in this mess. As her tummy rumbled, she was reminded of the fact the creep had convinced her to break her diet early that morning. If she hadn't broken her diet she could at least have snacked on something for lunch, but no, she couldn't do that now. She had already taken in way too many calories today thanks to her earlier indulgence.

There was a soft roar that increasingly grew louder as the seconds wore on. Jean caught sight of a sleek black motorcycle zooming down the street, the driver wearing a pure white silk ensemble that flapped errantly in the breeze. She felt a bit of that nervous apprehension in her gut fade as he pulled up into the driveway. "There he is!"

Taryn blinked, eying the boy as he parked and stepped off the bike. "Uh... who is that?"

"A... visitor." Jean explained lamely. Thankfully Taryn was too caught up making googly eyes at the guy. Jean could appreciate the girls reaction, he was rather cute despite his many glaring flaws.

Ranma stepped up to them, glancing from Jean to Taryn and back. "Hey, sorry I'm late." he smiled slightly, "You locked the door to your room; took me a bit to get in with out breaking the door down." he flicked his arm to the side, a green folder suddenly popping into existence.

"Ah." Jean nodded. She had forgotten about that. She took the folder, opening it and flipping through the papers within a bit. "Thanks Ranma, this is a load off my mind." she closed the folder, handing it to Taryn who took the proffered article dumbly. "Hurry up Taryn, I need this back before lunch ends!"

The brown-haired girl blinked suddenly, nodding with a tight smile. "Right! Thanks Jean... Ranma."

Ranma eyed the girl weirdly as she walked away, before turning his attention back to Jean with a slight grin. "Really Jean? All that hard work so someone can cheat off you?"

Jean blushed lightly, "Ah... sorry. I really did need it though, I'm just doing her a favor."

The boy chuckled, shaking his head. He turned to leave before freezing suddenly, his fierce gray-blue eyes examining her from head to toe. Jean honestly felt uncomfortable with his looks, especially in light of just how old he was. "Uh... Ranma."

Ranma frowned, "Jean, are you busy tonight?"

The redhead blinked, "What?"

"Are you busy tonight?" the boy grinned slightly, "I have a high society event to go too, and find I'm in need of a date."

Jean boggled. He was asking her out? Was he insane? What on earth made him think she would even consider the possibility? Heck, why the hell would he ask knowing full well Ororo would find out about it one way or another. "I... uh, don't think..." she breathed nervously, before speaking again, "Why not ask Ororo?"

"I tried." He spoke honestly, "She cut me off. Now, I'd rather not track down Mysty, but this kind of event isn't one you show up dutch too."

"I have a boyfriend you know." Jean weakly threw out.

"And I have no intention of stealing you from him." Ranma snorted, "So what do you say? A nice night out, chance to mingle with the so-called high society, maybe some shopping? All on me, of course."

Jean bit her lip thoughtfully. "I... it's a school night. Xavier wouldn't let me..."

Ranma grunted, flipping open his cellphone. "Let's ask him, eh?" he placed the call.

The red-head was wondering why she just didn't say no. Honestly that would have put an end to this whole thing before it got to this point, but why didn't she think of it? Ah well, guess it didn't matter. No way was the professor going to let her out on a school night.

"Yeah Charles, I need a favor." Ranma kept looking at her even as he spoke, "Got an invite from one of my contacts in New York. It's a high society event and I need a date..." he suddenly grimaced, "... no I'm not asking you out!"

Jean stared wide-eyed. That was weird as heck coming from the Professor.

"Yeah, I tried asking Ororo." Ranma continued, "But she cut me off. I'd much rather not try and track down Mysty for it, especially after the drama from yesterday, so I'm wondering if you'd be okay with me taking Jean out on a date tonight?" he was silent for a bit, eventually rolling his eyes and saying, "Like I'd ever do something like that." he sighed after a bit, before holding the phone out, "Here, he wants to talk to you."

Jean took the phone hesitantly, "Hello?"

"Jean." Xavier began, "I'm going to go ahead and give you permission to go with Ranma tonight. However, I want you to be aware, keep an eye on him and see if anything about Mystique comes up."

"What?" the red-head boggled, "But Professor..."

"I'm asking you, Jean." the man's tone turned serious, "Believe it or not we can learn a lot about Ranma, or potential adversities to our dreams if we but pay attention. Can you do that?"

"I..." she sighed, "Alright Professor."

"Good girl. Hand the phone back to Ranma, please." she did so.

"Yeah?" Ranma frowned. "Eh... I'd say between eleven and twelve at the latest." he grunted then, "Right, see you later." before flipping the phone closed. He glanced at the red-head with a smile, "See? Permission granted. So how bout it, wanna go on a date with me?"

Jean stared at him thoughtfully. The Professor had all but made it an order, and it was one she was extremely hesitant to accept. Not because she didn't trust Ranma, though she quite frankly didn't, but because she was practically being forced too. Now though, even after getting permission Ranma still asked rather then demanded. It was a slight thing, true, but it made her feel loads better because at the end of the day he made sure it was her choice. "I... sure, I'd like that."

Ranma smiled brightly then. Jean suddenly realized why Ororo liked the guy, that smile could melt ice with its intensity. "Thanks Jean, you won't regret it!"

"I hope not." She grumbled slightly, looking down at her clothes with a frown. "I don't think I have anything to wear, not for the kind of party you're taking me too."

The boy blinked, "Oh..." he glanced her up and down thoughtfully, "Turn around, slowly."

Jean did so, shivering a bit. She could practically feel his eyes raking the length of her body as she did so.

"Alright, I can handle that." Ranma nodded, glancing up at her neck, then face and hair. "Yep, this will be easy."

"Okay?" she really didn't know what to say to that.

"I'll pick you up here after school." Ranma grunted, "We have a bit of a drive, so no time to delay."

"Okay." Jean nodded, slowly stepping away. "I'll see you after school then."

The boy grunted, leaning on his bike and reeving the engine. "It's a date."

-0-0-0-

"She is abhorrent to the plan." another voice, feminine with a sultry undertone to every word.

She felt a piercing warmth over her abdomen that shifted back and forth, like a wave caressing from side to side. "She is irrelevant, not abhorrent." this voice was slightly mechanical, or perhaps a voice veiled by a synthesizers of some kind.

"The child?" that first voice, old and dark in tone. She felt a fear the likes of which she had never known swell up in her chest from that voice alone. It was like listening to eternity, old and so terribly alien.

"Partial vergence." the mechanical voice said simply. "It is unlikely to inherit more then a modicum."

"Abort it." the woman snapped, "It is outside our plans, just as this pustule of a woman is."

"Let it be." the old voice said with finality. "If nothing else we can gauge his lowliest inheritance. Send her to Magnus."

"He'll stop his quest." the woman returned angrily, "We'll have failed."

"Alter the memories." the mechanical voice said simply, "Dilate time, make it unfeasible for conception to have occurred and she will not seek him out." a pause; "A vague simulacrum would do well as a replacement."

Something grabbed her arm, pushing it away and letting her see something more then darkness. The man... if you could call it that, had skin of silver and the consistency of water. Ripples traveled along his form, reflecting light and even her own reflection. She could see her blue skin, notice the shocked horror etched across her features as she stared into the endless silver.

"Sleep."

-0-0-0-

Rogue jerked awake, a scream ripping from her lips as an unfathomable fear clenched her rapidly beating heart.

Class abruptly came to an stand still, everyone staring in wide eyed shock at the girl as she thrashed in her chair.

"Rogue!" Risty hissed, gripping the girl by the shoulder and trying to calm her. "Snap out of it, girl!"

Rogue stared at the girl, eyes wide and unseeing at first while she struggled to calm herself. "Uh..." she shivered suddenly, "Sorry... sorry..."

"Are you okay Rogue?" Their teacher stepped up tentatively, "Do you need to visit the nurses office?"

The Southern Belle blinked rapidly, "Uh... no, no." she grimaced, "Jus ah bad dream, s'all."

At least she hoped so, but she didn't think she was that lucky.

-0-0-0-

Scott had cut class a little early and didn't feel the least bit sorry about it. It occurred to him that with Duncan's car pretty much scrap, or in the shop for a while, then Jean would need a ride home. This had the added benefit of limiting that jerk's time with the girl, which as far as he was concerned was only a good thing. He didn't deserve the red-head, not with his egotistical tendencies and all around asshole mannerisms. Maybe he wasn't seeing the good in the guy, but as far as Summers was concerned there simply wasn't any.

As the bell rang, he let his eyes zoom on anything and everything red he could find. Other teenagers began piling out the doors, some heading towards the buses idling nearby, many more rushing to cars driven by parents or older brothers and sisters. No sign of the red-head just yet...

"I'm worried Rogue." he half heard Risty from his side. He glanced in their direction, frowning thoughtfully as the two goths approached him. Rather, the look Rogue shot him had him worried, like something had seriously disturbed her and she desperately needed to tell some one about it.

"It was jus a dream, Risty." Rogue said as she stepped up to Scott, glancing at him meaningfully. "Ain't tha first time I had dreams like that."

'Dreams?' Scott pondered mentally. "Hey you two."

Risty huffed, shooting a look at the boy, "Scott, you gotta talk to Rogue! She won't listen to me at all!"

"What's this about?" Scott glanced at the Southern Belle pointedly.

"Jus..." Rogue nervously glanced at Risty, before turning back to face Scott. "... ya remember those dreams ah had bout Kurt little ways ago?"

Scott blinked. Oh he didn't think he could ever forget about 'those' dreams. Mystique's memories that had surfaced as dreams for Rogue, revealing a link between the blue skinned woman and Kurt, that link being the fact she was his mother. If Rogue was having more dreams along that vein... "Well, I'm sure it's nothing, but we can always talk to the Professor about them."

Rogue nodded, relief flashing in her eyes. "Ya mind givin us a ride to tha school?"

"Not at all." Scott shrugged. Okay, he had been hoping for a little alone time with Jean, but there were some things far more important then his own infatuation with the red head. Speaking of the red head, the boy suppressed a frown as he spotted her walking out the front with Duncan and Taryn in tow...

-0-0-0-

Jean had hoped for a quick get-away. The last thing she wanted was to be bogged down by Taryn or Duncan today, not since she agreed to a 'date' with Ranma. The brown-haired girl had practically gushed questions about the boy since seeing him, and she didn't need to be a mind reader to know Duncan wouldn't like the boy on principal once he found out about him. She thought it rather sweet, if entirely annoying, how her boyfriend could get jealous so easily over the slightest of things. She shook those thoughts off, practically power walking to the front and praying with all her might to get by unnoticed...

"Jean!" Taryn chirruped, grabbing her arm and denying the red-head her escape, "Where are you off too so fast?"

"Eerm..." Jean grimaced, "Just, y'know, want to get out of here quickly."

Taryn looked at her suspiciously at first, before grinning brightly, "I don't think so."

The red-head raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Not until you give me all the juicy gossip on that Ranma guy." She practically swooned, "To think some one like that is staying at your place..." she fanned herself dramatically for effect.

"Who is what now?" Jean winced as he boyfriend stepped up behind her, grabbing her in a light hug that left her feeling irritated and nothing else.

"What, you didn't know?" Taryn took a slight scandalous tone with that, "This hunk of a man is staying with Jean, and the girl won't even help hook a friend up!"

"... Right." Duncan snorted, leaning in close to his girl. Jean could feel his breath caress her neck followed by the feather lite kiss. "... this guy isn't something I should worry about, right?"

"Absolutely not." Jean half snapped, breaking the embrace as she started for the exit again. "Look Taryn, Ranma isn't the type of guy you'd want to date."

"Oh?" Taryn kept step with her, looking oh so curious, "Why's that?"

Duncan snorted, "It's probably the other way around." he looked at the girl seriously, "You're damn annoying at times, Taryn."

"Shut up dick for brains." The girl snapped, glancing pointedly at Jean.

Jean debated about how to respond, but settled for some supposed truths in the end. "He doesn't date younger girls." she said matter of factly.

"What?" Duncan blinked, "He a cougar chaser?" Jean had the oddest impression her boyfriend was starting to like the guy.

Taryn huffed, "Lies! I'm sure he'll give me a chance..." she trailed off as they finally made it to the front of the school. She frowned thoughtfully, "Oh, you need a ride Jean?"

Jean spotted Scott glancing at her curiously before responding. "No, I... have a ride already."

The brown-haired girl pouted, "Oh come on, let me give you a ride home! Please? Pretty please?"

Duncan rolled his eyes. "She just wants a chance to jump this Ranma guy's bones."

"I deny nothing." Taryn grinned shamelessly.

"Hey Jean." Scott stepped up to them. Jean idly noticed Risty and Rogue a little ways behind him, both watching with bored expectant eyes. "Was about to take off, wondered if you needed a ride?"

Duncan almost growled there, but managed to remarkably restrain himself.

Taryn looked at Jean expectantly.

Jean winced internally. Where was Ranma when she needed him?

A loud roar followed by squealing tires answered her prayer, Ranma sliding to a stop on Storm's motorcycle near the curb. The sound drew everyone's attention, Scott staring blankly with Duncan blinking owlishly at the sight of the boy.

"Hey Jean." Ranma smiled slightly, reeving the bike a bit. "You ready?"

Jean couldn't really think of a worse way to leave, but frankly didn't much care. She stepped away from her friends, smiling weakly, "Yes, well. My ride's here so... see you all later!" she turned and practically ran for the boy.

Ranma blinked, eying her weirdly as she practically lunged onto the bike. "Get me out of here!" she half snapped.

The pigtailed boy chuckled, glancing at the group of kids with a smile. He gave them a thumbs up before zooming off with Jean.

Taryn pouted, "That's not fair! She already has a boyfriend, damn it!"

Scott and Duncan both just glowered.

-0-0-0-

TBC


End file.
